Jaylen Simpson, Carjacking with Gun, Tennessee 2024

Memphis Man Pleads Guilty to Charges Related to 2024 Carjacking

MEMPHIS, TN – A Memphis man recently pled guilty to charges brought against him related to a carjacking committed in Memphis, Tennessee in May of 2024.

Jaylen Simpson, 23, hid in a Memphis resident’s backyard and confronted the resident when he was outside his home. Simpson almost immediately shot the victim in the stomach before taking his car keys and driving off in the victim’s 2017 Kia Cadenza which had been parked in the driveway of the residence.

After the carjacking, officers with the Memphis Police Department located Simpson and the stolen vehicle and gave chase. Simpson eventually abandoned the Kia Cadenza and fled on foot. The MPD officers then apprehended Simpson and found a loaded semi-automatic pistol in his backpack.

On April 15, 2025, after a day of jury selection, Simpson pled guilty to the federal crime of carjacking resulting in serious bodily injury and of the separate crime of using a firearm during a crime of violence. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 16, 2025 and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years for the discharge of the firearm up to life in prison.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Memphis Police Department Violent Crime Unit investigated the case. Trial Attorney Ashleigh Atasoy, of the Violent Crime and Racketeering Section, and Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Hall, of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee, prosecuted the case.

For more information, please contact the media relations team at USATNW.Media@usdoj.gov. Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Facebook or on X at @WDTNNews for office news and updates.

The defendant is Jaylen Simpson, 23, who pled guilty to carjacking resulting in serious bodily injury and using a firearm during a crime of violence. The crime occurred on May 16, 2024, in Memphis, Tennessee. Simpson faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years for the discharge of the firearm up to life in prison, and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 16, 2025.

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