January 10, 2025, was the day the Memphis hip-hop scene was rocked by the shooting death of 21-year-old Patrick Houston Jr., the son of renowned rapper Project Pat. The young man was found lifeless along Ketchum Road and Long Street, near Charjean Park in the Imogene Heights neighborhood. Police were summoned to the scene around 1:15 p.m. to find Houston Jr. unresponsive, having succumbed due to multiple gunshot injuries. The daytime tragedy rocked the city and the hip-hop scene, no doubt stoked by the fact that Project Pat was a hip-hop mogul of the South as much as he was the brother of Three 6 Mafia founder Juicy J.
Memphis Police Department (MPD) began a thorough investigation, gathering evidence in a city not unfamiliar with handgun violence. By June 27, 2025, the police had issued an arrest warrant for Talia Jones, 19, charging her with enabling a first-degree murder. The crime of enabling means that the crime allegedly was planned or executed by Jones, even if she did not actually shoot anyone. The U.S. Marshals Service’s Two Rivers Violent Fugitive Task Force pursued the case, tracing the trail of Jones to Minneapolis, Minnesota, from which she had fled following the shooting.
U.S. Marshals caught Jones in Minneapolis on July 15, 2025, after a months-long search. The arrest did not come easily as Jones fought a physical struggle with police officers before being subdued unharmed. She is now held in the state of Minnesota, to be transported back to Shelby County, Tennessee, where she will be officially charged. Court documents indicate Jones has had past encounters with the law, including a shoplifting arrest in October of 2024 and a withdrawn charge of aggravated assault in connection with a domestic incident. A bench warrant for the missed court appearance in the shoplifting case assisted police in finding her.
“The U.S. Marshals Service’s partnership with the Memphis Police Department is strong and effective,”
said U.S. Marshal Tyreece Miller.
“Our collaboration continues to bring violent offenders to justice.”
In the state of Tennessee, aid to first-degree murder involves knowingly helping or participating in the act of a killing without actually committing the killing. For instance, Jones may have assisted in planning the crime, furnished the means, or served as a lookout. Specifics of how exactly she assisted are not released, leaving certain avenues of how she was involved in the case and if anyone else assisted yet to be explored. MPD and the prosecutors continued to investigate, no motive having been officially substantiated.
Patrick Houston Jr.’s murder brings the focus back to Memphis’s inability to manage violent crime. Memphis itself counted 398 killings in 2024, high in the per-capita rankings of the country. The Imogene Heights neighborhood of the shooting has had violent incidents, prompting neighborhood groups like Ceasefire Memphis to address the crisis. Big-name cases like the recent one draw attention to the police response and the safety itself in particular.
The Memphis music scene mourned Houston Jr. deeply. A memorial service was held on January 25, 2025, at M.J. Edwards Funeral Home, followed by burial at Memphis Memory Gardens. Project Pat, who has transitioned into prison ministry and runs the Go Foundation for incarcerated individuals, has remained publicly silent on the arrest, though he posted a reflective message on Instagram:
“Boy i thank God for another day”
While Jones faces extradition, the case is far from sealed. Authorities have yet to rule out future arrests and court filings may soon specify her role and potential aids. The trial likely will draw much attention, given the ramifications of Project Pat’s cultural impact as much as the broader implications for Memphis in the war on guns.
