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Phil Trenary: Murder charges filed, services set

The combined ages of the three people now charged with murdering Greater Memphis Chamber President/CEO Phil Trenary is 56.

Trenary, who was killed Downtown Thursday night, was “64 years young” as described in his obituary, which was published on Sunday.

McKinney Wright Jr. (MPD photo)

Late Saturday, the Memphis Police Department sent out word that 22-year-old McKinney Wright Jr., Quandarius Richardson, 18, and 16-year-old Racanisha Wright have been charged with first degree murder in perpetration of criminal attempt robbery and criminal attempt especially aggravated robbery.

Trenary, who lived Downtown, was walking in the 500 block of South Front St. when he was gunned down shortly before 8 p.m.

Two of the three now facing murder charges were taken into custody on Friday morning following a high-speed chase that began near Watkins and Signal and ended with a spectacular crash in South Memphis. Police had been on alert since Thursday night for a four-door F150 truck believed connected to the fatal shooting.

Quandarius Richardson (MPD photo)

Old Allen Task Force officers spotted a truck matching that description about 10:55 a.m. on Friday. A check of the driver’s tag showed the vehicle stolen. The driver refused to stop, according to Lt. Karen Rudolph, MPD public information officer.

The truck split apart when it crashed. Four people – including the two riding in the stolen vehicle – were injured and taken for hospital care.

No details on when the third person was taken into custody had been released by the time of this TSDMemphis.com account.

The Greater Memphis Chamber had sponsored a four-mile run that began Downtown about 6 p.m. on Thursday. Trenary attended the event. Later, as he walked along South Front Street, a truck approached and the person who got out of it killed Trenary, police said.

The funeral service for Trenary will be held in Seabrook Hall at Christ United Methodist Church at 4488 Poplar Ave. on Thursday (Oct. 4) at 2 p.m. Visitation is set for noon. Canale Funeral Directors has charge.

The obituary notes that his family requests – in lieu of flowers – contributions to the Phil Trenary Fund for the Advancement of Memphis at the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis.

A father of three, Trenary, who was divorced, also was a grandfather. He moved to Memphis in 1997, becoming president/CEO of Pinnacle Airlines. He left Pinnacle in 2011 and three years later he was selected as president/CEO of the Greater Memphis Chamber.

Condolences and reflections — such as this one from Darrell Cobbins, head of Universal Commercial Real Estate and a Greater Memphis Chamber member — continue a steady flow on social media.

(Photo: Darrell Cobbins via Facebook)

“We agreed on much more than we disagreed re: how best to get Memphis from point A to point B. We never doubted each other’s earnest interest and desire in getting Memphis to where it should/needed to be someday,” Cobbins posted on Facebook.

“I am thankful for the time I had to know and work alongside him. I was supposed to be in a meeting with him Wednesday afternoon and another Thursday at lunchtime that I ended up not being able to attend either of them. I’ll be kicking myself for a long while.

“R.I.P to my friend Phil.”

(TSD freelancer John Semien contributed to this story.)

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