Police say man shot in car, dropped in Jeffersonville neighborhood
Aug. 2—JEFFERSONVILLE — New information released Monday in the murder of a man found July 23 in Jeffersonville's Oak Park neighborhood shows that police believe drugs were involved and that the suspect was wanted on an attempted murder in North Carolina with similar details.
Christopher T. Tandy, 41, was arrested July 29 in Asheville, North Carolina and charged the following day with murder and a level 6 felony for auto theft in the shooting death of 29-year-old Rodrick Wallace. The victim was found dead just before 7 a.m. at the intersection of Edgewood and Wildwood, with what was later determined to be six gunshot wounds in the head. He had no wallet, identification or cell phone.
Court records obtained by the News and Tribune Monday show that investigators believed early on that the location where Wallace was found is not where he was killed, based on lack of blood and other evidence at the scene, and that he was shot inside his car in the parking lot of a nearby apartment complex and later placed in Oak Park.
"The challenge initially in this investigation is that we had a victim of a serious homicide," Jeffersonville Police Chief Kenny Kavanaugh told news media during a news conference Monday. "Our victim was placed in a position there without any identification; we had no information at all whatsoever to be able to identify that victim."
Police pinged Wallace's phone, which led them to where his car was parked near Beech Street in Louisville. Inside, officers found "a substantial amount of blood" in the front part of the car, six spent .22 caliber shell casings and two .22 caliber rounds.
A review of the victim's phone showed text conversations between him and who they believe was Tandy in the hours before Wallace was found dead. The messages "appeared to be drug-related and there was some hostility during certain parts of the conversation," according to court records.
A witness said they had last seen Wallace, who lived in an apartment on Kensington Drive in Clarksville, July 22 when he left the home with a designer bag with a baby wipe container with around two ounces of marijuana. He owned a 9-mm handgun and a 22-caliber handgun and had in his possession a Smith and Wesson .22 rifle. None of the weapons or drugs has been recovered by police.
Surveillance footage shows Wallace's white Impala drive into the Hallmark neighborhood around 2:33 a.m. July 23, leaving around 4:32 a.m., appearing to be speeding and squealing tires.
In conversations with Asheville police, investigators learned that Tandy had an outstanding warrant for attempted murder, a case in which he's accused of shooting a victim in a car over drugs. In April, a witness had told police in North Carolina that Tandy was on the run and believed to be near Louisville. Following Wallace's death, that same witness said Tandy had told them July 23 that he had killed someone, but the witness didn't believe him.
Officers also expressed gratitude to the other agencies who were involved, including Louisville Metro Police, as well as the residents who helped provide information.
"Jeffersonville is a safe community, will continue to remain a safe community due to the participation of our citizens and visitors alike," Jeffersonville Police Assistant Chief Scott McVoy said.
This is the first murder case in Jeffersonville this year; in 2020 there was one for the year.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Jeffersonville Police Detective Division at 812-285-6535 or the anonymous tip line at 812-218-TIPS (8477.)
