The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office and the Memphis Police Department have unveiled plans for a collaborative Cold Case Unit, which will help law enforcement investigate and prosecute unsolved homicide and violent sexual assault cases.

The plans for the new unit in the DA’s Office were shared exclusively with The Daily Memphian Thursday, Sept. 29. 

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The Cold Case Unit is expected to begin reviewing cold cases as early as the end of next week. The goal is for the unit to review up to 200 cold cases per year. 

District Attorney Steve Mulroy said it is important to have a unit that operates alongside MPD’s Cold Case Unit to get people off the streets. 

“We know that a small percentage of repeat offenders are responsible for a large percentage of the violent crime,” Mulroy said. “And if it’s possible for us to resolve some of these cold cases, these are people who almost certainly are out there right now, committing repeat offenses.

“So it will not only give some comfort to the victims, who may think the system’s given up, or the victims’ families. But it’ll also help to lower long term the violent crime rate, which is really what we’re after.”

Typically, cases are investigated by the original law enforcement detective until all leads have been exhausted. If new investigative leads have not been uncovered after a year, the case may be reviewed and considered cold. 

The idea for the Cold Case Unit came after Mulroy’s election, from his external transition team, and received support internally as well, Mulroy said. 

Other similar Cold Case Units have been formed in places such as Chattanooga and Woburn, Mass.

Mulroy said the SCDAG office helped solve cold case units during the pandemic.

“During the pandemic, when the courts shut down, and there was less work for ADAs to do, there was a temporary project where cold case files were distributed amongst the ADAs for suggestions, but then it was only on a temporary basis,” Mulroy said.

Once the unit is formed, MPD will share cold case files with the Cold Case Unit. Assistant District Attorneys General will check criteria off a checklist to determine if the case is solvable, and investigators with the DA’s Office will follow up on the case.

In cases where warrants could not be served on defendants, investigators with the DA’s office will help locate defendants so they can be prosecuted. 

These people could include fugitives or people who moved and could not be located.

“I’ve got 21 criminal investigators who are very good at finding people,” Mulroy said. “And if we can find them, then we can continue the prosecution.”

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At first, the Cold Case Unit may be made up of “at least a couple of (Assistant District Attorneys) and three or four criminal investigators reviewing it.”

“And if it proves successful, and it seems to be cost-efficient, then we might expand it where we would give a few cold case files to lots of ADA’s and just in the ADA’s spare time, also be taking a look at Cold Case units and referring back to the cold case unit, and, ‘Ah, we looked at this one, and this one’s worth following up on.’” 

Mulroy said he plans on hiring Cold Case Unit members from within the office. 

The police department will pick cases out to be reviewed by the SDAG Cold Case Unit. 

“The Memphis Police Department supports any efforts that will assist in bringing long-awaited justice to the many families that have been impacted,” MPD Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis said in a statement. “This effort may be fruitful and help identify suspects who have committed egregious crimes against members of our community.”

Mulroy said the program could eventually be extended with partnerships with other law enforcement agencies.

“The MPD has the largest number of cold cases, so we’re starting with them,” Mulroy said. “I think that’s where the need is greatest, both in terms of cold cases and in terms of crime. But I am totally open to partnering with any law enforcement agency within the territorial confines of Shelby County.”

People with information about a cold case are encouraged to contact the Memphis Police Department’s Cold Case Unit at 901-636-COLD (2653) or ColdCase@memphistn.gov.

The public can also submit information anonymously by calling Crime Stoppers at 901-528-CASH (2274).