A Memphis woman says a homeowner fatally shot her husband just moments after the couple pulled into a stranger’s driveway in an attempt to evade a traffic ticket.
Sheila Booker recalled the tragic moments when her husband, Rodriguez Poplar, was shot right in front of her. She said she and Poplar were driving through a residential neighborhood on Jan. 9 when Poplar spotted some blue police headlights ahead of them.
Booker said her husband told her to pull into a driveway and wait because their car had expired tags and a broken headlight.
As soon as she parked in the driveway, the homeowner came out of his house armed and demanded that they leave his property, Booker claims.
“So, he pulled the gun in my face, and that’s when my husband got out, and my husband got out trying to protect me, and that’s when he shot my husband right in front of me,” Booker told WHBQ.
Because the police were nearby, they arrived at the scene in less than a minute.
“The police came so fast,” Booker said. “If it weren’t for them, I think I’d be dead. They saved my life.”
The homeowner, Tommy Applewhite, was taken into custody and faces several charges, including second-degree murder.
He reportedly told investigators that he opened fire because he thought Poplar was bullying him.
“How can you call someone a bully because we pulled in a yard?” Booker asked.
Applewhite has a criminal history dating back to 2001 that includes numerous gun and drug charges.
He faced attempted murder charges in 2007 after he shot a man twice in the face at an apartment complex. The victim told police the shooting happened a week after he and Applewhite argued. Applewhite pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to serve three years in prison.
At the time of Poplar’s shooting death, Applewhite was on active probation after pleading guilty to a gun charge in 2022.
Booker has launched a GoFundMe to raise donations that will go toward her husband’s burial expenses. Poplar’s death has left Booker to raise five kids alone, all between the ages of 3 and 10.
She said she plans to keep up with Applewhite’s scheduled court appearances.
