Video shows moments before Pastor Ricky Floyd shot; suspect’s attorney says they had argued over religion

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Video just obtained by WREG shows the moments before beloved Memphis pastor and prominent community leader Ricky Floyd was killed in a shooting at a Memphis bar.

The video, provided by the attorneys of the woman charged with shooting Floyd, shows just a portion of what happened that night outside Momma’s Bar and Grill on March 12.

We have carefully considered the weight of what’s shown and the sensitivity to all involved in this tragedy. But we also believe it’s an important part of this story and one you deserve to see.

The phone video captured what appears to be some of the final moments of Pastor Floyd’s life.

► Original story: Pastor Ricky Floyd dead, woman charged after shooting at Memphis bar

It shows the Tahoe truck he is in putting on brakes. Pastor Floyd gets out and walks toward the person shooting the video as they yell to “back up.”

“I’m backing back three times now. When I do that, you know. Back the — up. Back the —up. Back the —up,” says the person holding the phone.

Then the video drops out.

Warning: Some viewers may find the video below disturbing.

WREG sat down with the attorneys for Samantha Marion, who is charged with voluntary manslaughter in Pastor Floyd’s shooting death. They say the video speaks for itself.

“The video does not capture the gunfire that would have taken place, probably maybe three or four seconds later, but it clearly shows him approaching her aggressively after being told several times to stop, and that he should not be, you know, walking up on her like that,” said Marion’s attorney John Keith Perry.

Perry says his client was behind the camera shooting the video, and it came after Marion and a man she had met that night got into a heated discussion about religion with Pastor Floyd inside the bar.

Perry says when everyone was leaving, Pastor Floyd walked toward Marion, and the man got between them.

“He stands in front of Reverend Floyd. He’s knocked to the ground by Reverend Floyd. And when he does, the back of his head hits the pavement and he becomes a little stunned or dazed,” Perry said. “Reverend Floyd then takes the telephone of Miss Marion, and he throws it to the ground and he gives a couple of insults or what have you, and and then starts to walk off.”

That’s when he says Samantha Marion picks up her phone and starts recording the license plate of the truck since she had never met Floyd before.

“Whatever triggered him, he was upset with Mrs. Marion,” said Kevin Massey, another of Marion’s attorneys. “He fought through two individuals to get to her and watching him from the vehicle and and approach her, it was clear that his intentions was definitely not to give her a hug and say, hey, let’s work this out. But he had aggression in his heart and in his mind.”

WREG acknowledges that this is only one piece of video from that night, and it does not include what police have described as Pastor Floyd holding his hands up and walking backward away from Marion before falling to the ground.

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Out of respect for Pastor Floyd’s family, WREG reached out to a family spokesperson and shared the video. It was their first time seeing it.

“At this difficult time, we’re just totally focused on prayer and maintaining our faith in the justice system,” said Telisa Franklin, spokesperson for Floyd’s family. “We trust that it will fulfill its purpose and provide us the answers and the accountability that is essential right now.”

“We don’t really know what played out, what was happening before and after,” said Franklin. “We don’t know. All we know that our pastor, Pastor Sheila, is now a widow. Our church is without our pastor.”

But Marion’s attorneys believe the video shows their client was defending herself, and that should have been taken into consideration when was in jail for seven days and given a $100,000 bond.

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“You’re witnessing a person that is that has just been assaulted and is getting a tag number and trying to do what they’re supposed to do,” Perry said. “And you’re witnessing a person who, despite the great 58 years that he is alive, if you, and we’re not asking anybody in the public to measure him by that last 30 minutes of his life or what have you, but for that last 30 minutes, was angry.”

“We’re just praying and believing and trusting God through this, that accountability and essential answers will come to us in the days to come,” said Franklin.

Another prosecutor has been called in to handle this case because of District Attorney Steve Mulroy’s relationship with Pastor Floyd.

But Marion’s attorneys believe the case has become political, saying lower bail has been given to people who commit greater crimes than what they say is self-defense.

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