Memphis, TN - Police say a Memphis man, accused of stabbing his father to death has been charged with First Degree Murder.
Around 1:00 a.m. Saturday, July 12, 2008, police were called to 256 T.M. Henderson Avenue in north Memphis. When police arrived at the house they say 60 year-old Joseph Tucker, Sr. was already dead.
LaToya Cunningham admits her brother and dad never got along that well, but never thought their disagreements would end with one of them dead.
Cunningham says she got a frantic phone call from her sister, saying Joseph Tucker, Jr. confessed to stabbing their father to death.
"We rushed to the house and had to push the air conditioner in to get inside. I had a key to the house but I couldn't get in. He was laying across the table on his back," says Cunningham.
According to Cunningham, her brother had anger management problems, and Shelby County records prove it. On July 28, 2007 Joseph Tucker, Jr. was arrested for domestic assault. Police records show Tucker got into a fight with his dad over a rib. Then police say Tucker threw a brick at his dad's leg.
In October 2006, Tucker, Jr. was charged with aggravated assault. Tucker's cousin told police he got into a fight with a man at her house and slashed him with a box cutter several times in the chest and stomach.
"He has a temper, when things don't go his way he gets upset," says the man’s sister.
In 2004, Joseph Tucker, Jr. was arrested for theft. A police record shows he and a friend went into a bank to open a checking account, and then stole a wallet out of a bank employee’s purse.
Memphis Police say Tucker had his first court appearance, Monday morning, July 14, 2008, and is being held without bond.
