A U.S. Army veteran who served in the war in Afghanistan pleaded not guilty Wednesday to fatally shooting a homeless man with an automatic rifle in downtown Memphis. A lawyer for Karl P. Loucks, 42, entered the plea to a first-degree murder charge during a hearing in Shelby County Criminal Court. Loucks also pleaded not guilty to an aggravated assault charge in the stabbing of another homeless man in downtown Memphis, where Loucks lived in an apartment.
Loucks is being held in jail without bond. He was arrested May 31 in the killing of Shaun Rhea. Loucks’ lawyer has suggested that he acted in self-defense. During a hearing in July, a security guard and a police investigator testified that Loucks attacked Rhea in the early morning hours of the day he was arrested. Tony Perry, a security guard at a downtown Memphis hotel, testified that he saw Loucks use pepper spray on Rhea while he was sleeping. Loucks also pepper-sprayed other homeless people that same night, Perry said.
After he was pepper-sprayed, Rhea confronted Loucks, asking why Loucks did it and “calling him the b-word,” Perry said. Loucks took out a knife, and Rhea picked up an electric scooter that was nearby and threw it at Loucks. He missed. Perry said Rhea was angry, though he added that Rhea did not attempt to get physical with Loucks.
