A Tennessee woman has been found guilty of fatally shooting her husband in the presence of their children, following a domestic dispute that began over keys.
Elita Bean, 47, was convicted by a Shelby County jury on charges of voluntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment in connection with the death of her husband, 41-year-old Terrence Bean, as announced by the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office.
On May 21, 2024, the couple became embroiled in an argument at their residence on Ardmore Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Their children were present in the home at the time, and one daughter later provided investigators with a firsthand account of the events that unfolded.
According to an affidavit filed in the case, the child stated that the dispute originated over “keys,” though authorities did not disclose further details regarding the nature of that disagreement. The argument reportedly “escalated,” at which point Elita Bean seized a knife and attempted to stab her husband while in the kitchen.
The couple continued their verbal confrontation and moved into the bedroom, according to the daughter’s account. They subsequently returned to the kitchen, “where the fight escalated” once again.
Court documents indicate that Elita Bean ended up on the ground during the altercation, also noting that Terrence Bean had no pants on at the time.
The defendant instructed her daughter “to get her gun,” however, Terrence Bean reportedly retrieved the weapon himself and handed it to his wife, “telling her to shoot him.”
Elita Bean then shot her husband three times.
Memphis Police Department officers were dispatched to the residence at approximately 10 p.m. Upon arrival, they encountered the couple’s children outside, who “told them that their mother shot their father.”
Officers proceeded inside the home, where they located Elita Bean in the kitchen. Terrence Bean was found “lying face down on the kitchen floor suffering from a gunshot wound.”
Emergency personnel also responded to the scene and subsequently pronounced the victim deceased.
Investigators discovered three spent shell casings and a “large knife” inside the kitchen garbage can, along with a 9 mm handgun in the bedroom. The defendant claimed she had been “fighting the victim over the gun, and the gun went off.” She was taken into custody, with authorities observing that she “was highly intoxicated” at the time.
Upon examination of Terrence Bean’s body, investigators determined that he sustained one gunshot wound “around the lower left chest area.” Additionally, he presented “two wounds in the middle of his chest that were consistent with stab wounds from a knife,” along with a “deep cut to his right middle finger and a cut to his left forearm,” both of which were also deemed consistent with knife-inflicted injuries.
A sentencing date for Elita Bean had not been formally established at the time of reporting.
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