Widow says a wrong turn into a driveway ended with her husband dead after the homeowner confronted them with a gun

FOX13 Memphis reporter Martin Staunton says a widow is speaking publicly after her husband was shot and killed in what she describes as a split-second decision that spiraled out of control.

On FOX13’s late newscast, anchor Darcy Thomas sets the scene plainly: the widow believes a wrong turn into a stranger’s driveway ended with her husband dead, and she says she only survived because police arrived almost immediately.

The widow, Shelia Booker, opens with a line that sounds like it’s still stuck in her chest. “The police, they came so fast… If it weren’t for them, I think I’d be dead too. But they saved my life,” Booker tells FOX13.

Staunton reports Booker is now trying to process her husband’s death, the suspect’s arrest, and what comes next – court dates, grief, and raising five kids without him.

What Booker Says Happened On North Trezevant Street

Staunton reports Booker told him the shooting happened early Friday morning after she and her husband were driving on North Trezevant Street in Frayser.

Booker, as Staunton explains it, says they saw blue lights ahead and panicked because their car had a problem: a busted headlight.

Staunton says Booker also told him their tags were expired, and she believed that if they kept going, they could be pulled over.

So, Booker says, her husband made a quick call: pull into a driveway.

In Staunton’s telling, this wasn’t a plan to trespass, hang around, or start trouble. It was a hurried attempt to avoid attention for a vehicle issue, made in the dark, under stress, with police lights visible up the road.

That “small” choice – turning into a driveway for a moment – becomes the hinge point in everything that followed.

“He Pulled The Gun In My Face”

Staunton reports Booker says the homeowner came outside armed and demanded they leave.

Booker’s description of that moment is direct and frightening. She tells FOX13, “He pulled the gun in my face,” and she says that’s when her husband got out of the car to protect her.

Staunton says Booker claims her husband stepped in front of her, and that’s when she watched him get shot.

The victim, according to Staunton’s report, is Rodriguez Poplar.

In the TV report, Staunton describes Booker’s car – her Chevy Spark – and he notes the word “HOMICIDE” written across the windshield, a blunt marker that her vehicle is evidence now, not transportation.

Staunton says investigators released that car back to her, which is one of those details that doesn’t sound emotional on paper until you picture what it means: getting back into the same car, seeing the same glass, remembering the same seconds.

The report also says Booker came to the Austin Precinct and was told how to follow the suspect’s scheduled court appearances.

That’s the part of these cases that doesn’t make headlines, but it’s real life: once the cameras leave, families are left navigating paperwork, updates, court calendars, and the long wait between arraignments and hearings.

The Suspect And What Police Say He Told Investigators

Staunton reports the suspect is Tommy Applewhite.

In the on-air report, Staunton says Applewhite told investigators he opened fire because that’s “all he knew how to do,” and he described Poplar as a “bully.”

Booker’s reaction, as Staunton captures it, is disbelief mixed with anger. She responds with questions that sound like they came out before she even had time to filter them.

“How can you call someone a bully because we pulled in the yard?” Booker says, according to Staunton’s report.

Staunton also reports Booker said she had never met Applewhite and didn’t recognize him at all.

“I never seen Applewhite a day in my life,” she tells FOX13.

That detail matters because it cuts off one of the first assumptions people sometimes make in violent confrontations – some prior beef, some backstory, some long-running dispute.

What Booker describes to Staunton is something far colder: strangers colliding for a moment, and the collision turning fatal.

Staunton reports responding officers arrived extremely quickly – Booker says it was “less than a minute” – and she believes that speed is the reason she’s still alive.

Staunton also reports officers found Applewhite still holding the weapon when they got there.

Charges, Bond, And A Complicated Backdrop

Staunton reports Applewhite remains behind bars and faces serious charges, including second-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Staunton says Applewhite’s bond is set at $150,000.

In his reporting, Staunton also notes FOX13 checked court records and found Applewhite has a criminal history in Shelby County dating back to 2001.

Staunton highlights what he describes as the most serious prior case: a 2007 incident where Applewhite shot a man twice at a Frayser apartment complex.

According to Staunton’s summary of the records, the victim in that older case told police the men had fought a week earlier, and Applewhite later pleaded guilty to attempted murder and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Staunton reports there were also other run-ins over the years involving drug and gun charges.

And Staunton adds another detail that puts the current case in sharper focus: at the time of this shooting, he reports Applewhite was on active probation after pleading guilty to a gun charge in 2022, based on Tennessee Department of Corrections records.

That’s the kind of line that makes people in a community feel like they’re living in a loop.

Because to a lot of ordinary residents, the question becomes simple and maddening: if someone is legally barred from having a gun, and has a documented history that includes violent behavior, how does a situation still end with a firearm pointed at a stranger in a driveway?

There’s a policy argument in that question, sure, but there’s also a human one. Booker didn’t sign up to be part of a debate. She says she pulled into a driveway because a headlight was out, and minutes later she was a widow.

A Family Left Behind And A Street Full Of Fear

Staunton reports Booker is now a widow and a single mother with five children, ages 10 to 3.

He says she’s trying to stay strong while handling daily life and planning Poplar’s funeral.

Staunton reports Booker set up a GoFundMe to help cover funeral costs, and FOX13 is pointing viewers to that link.

If you zoom out from the legal details, Staunton’s story has two tracks running at the same time.

One track is the criminal case – charges, bond, prior record, court dates.

The other track is the emotional math of a family trying to survive the week after a killing: getting the car back, finding money for burial costs, explaining loss to children who are too young to understand why a normal night turned into a permanent absence.

And then there’s the bigger tension sitting beneath Booker’s account – something a lot of people recognize even if they don’t always say it cleanly.

People are scared. Homeowners are on edge. Drivers are on edge. Everyone is interpreting everyone else through worst-case assumptions, especially late at night.

But Staunton’s reporting shows what can happen when fear becomes the only filter and a gun becomes the first language.

Booker’s story, as Staunton presents it, is not about someone trying to kick in a door or storm a house. It’s about a moment of confusion, a quick stop, a confrontation, and a shot that can’t be taken back.

And whatever ends up proven in court, the part that already feels undeniable is the cost.

A man is dead. A woman says she nearly was, too. Five kids lost a father. And a neighborhood is left staring at a terrifying thought: sometimes, in the wrong driveway at the wrong time, there isn’t a second chance.