Teenager charged in death of fugitive ‘Watermelon Man’

MEMPHIS, Tennessee – The now 16-year-old suspect charged in connection with the death of the popular “Watermelon Man” last year is on the run after failing to appear at a bail hearing Friday.

John Materna was 76 when he was shot during a robbery last year while selling watermelons at the corner of Homer Street and Wayne Avenue in Highland Heights. He died two weeks later.

An arrest warrant was issued for 16-year-old Damarion Tackett after the youth charged in connection with Materna’s murder failed to appear for a bail hearing on Friday.

According to court records, Tackett was granted and posted $100,000 bail in March of this year. He was indicted by a grand jury in April but failed to appear for his bail hearing.

Materna’s family members declined to comment on Tackett’s failure to appear, but Materna’s daughter, April Stokes, acknowledged on the one-year anniversary of her father’s death that the wheels of justice often grind slowly.

“We don’t want them to rush it because we don’t want any mistakes. We want it done right the first time, so we’re making progress. It’s making progress,” Stokes said.

For decades, Materna sold watermelons on the corner where he was shot. A memorial at the site honors the man, but Randall Linn, his lifelong friend, says it brings neither peace nor answers to why Materna died and why the justice system failed him.

“Unless we legislate and enforce existing laws, there is no deterrence out here. There is none,” Linn said.

A second suspect involved in the murder has not yet been arrested.

District Attorney Steve Mulroy has not responded to recent developments regarding Demarion Tackett’s absence from his court hearing.