Nashville, Tennessee: Mother of Four Cenya Holland, 25, Shot Dead in East Nashville, Man Charged

A 25-year-old mother of four was shot and killed in East Nashville on Friday night, and a 21-year-old man who lived at the apartment complex where the shooting happened is now charged with criminal homicide.

Police said Cenya Holland was shot multiple times at about 10:15 p.m. on Friday, November 6, near the entrance of the apartment complex at 345 Dellway Villa Drive. The Tennessean reported that Fallbrook Apartments are listed at that address. Holland was taken to Skyline Medical Center, where she died, according to the Metro Nashville Police Department.

Identified on surveillance video

In a news release issued on Saturday, November 7, the police department said homicide detectives identified Gemaurien Robinson, 21, as the suspect after reviewing surveillance footage and speaking with witnesses. The shooting happened near the entrance of Robinson's own apartment complex, police said.

Robinson was charged with criminal homicide, a felony, WKRN reported. WSMV also reported on Saturday that a man had been charged with criminal homicide after a woman was fatally shot near the entrance of a Nashville apartment complex.

Police said Robinson admitted during an interview that he shot Holland as the two were walking. According to the department's release, he said she was a danger to him, but he gave no specific threat and no specific reason for the shooting. No motive beyond that statement has been released.

A family prepares a funeral

WKRN reported that Holland was a mother of four. Her family told the station they are now preparing her funeral instead of looking forward to the Thanksgiving gathering where she would have made her macaroni and cheese. A family fundraiser page names her in full as Cenya Janajha Holland.

The case leaves four children without their mother, and it leaves East Nashville neighbors with a shooting that police have described in detail except for the one question the family is asking: why it happened at all.

What happens next

Court records show Robinson is due to appear before a judge on Tuesday, November 10, The Tennessean reported. A criminal homicide charge is an allegation, and Robinson has not been convicted of any crime in this case.

WKRN reported that no further information was immediately released after the arrest announcement. Police have not said whether Holland and Robinson knew each other before Friday night, and they have not released any account of what the two were doing together before the shots were fired.