Edward Wurl
Introduction
Edward “Eddie” Wurl was sentenced on Friday, November 13, 2026 to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the murder of Blake Rhea, a beloved Memphis musician and member of the Grammy-nominated band Southern Avenue . A Shelby County jury found Wurl guilty in October of first-degree murder and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, deliberating for less than ten minutes before reaching that verdict . Judge Lee V. Coffee presided over the sentencing, which committed Wurl to confinement in the Tennessee Department of Correction .
Background Information
Rhea was shot and killed on November 6, 2024, outside Louis Connelly’s bar on South Cleveland Street in Memphis . Rhea was a member of Southern Avenue, a Memphis band that had been nominated for a Grammy, and taught at the School of Rock Memphis; after his death, former bandmate Marcella Simien said, “The sadness will resonate and will be felt for a long time when you lose someone in this music community that is very supportive of one another” .
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
During the trial, prosecutors showed surveillance video they said captured Wurl following Rhea to his vehicle with an object that appeared to be a knife behind his back; prosecutors said Wurl shot Rhea in the back of the head . The shooting came after what investigators described as deliberate preparation: digital evidence recovered from Wurl’s phone showed that a week before the killing, someone had searched, “If I haven’t fired my gun in years will it work?” — and that Wurl had repeatedly visited Rhea’s social media profile in the months leading up to it .
The jury’s October verdict convicted Wurl of both first-degree murder and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, with jurors taking less than ten minutes to reach it — a speed that reflected, in practical terms, the weight of the video and digital evidence prosecutors assembled .
Public Reaction and Consequences
The case’s public record consists of the Shelby County court proceedings themselves: the rapid October conviction, the sentencing hearing before Judge Coffee on November 13, and the earlier grieving of Memphis’s music community, voiced in Simien’s remark about the sadness that would resonate through a scene built on mutual support . Wurl’s sentence — life with the possibility of parole rather than life without — places his eventual release, if any, in the parole board’s hands years from now .
Current Status
Wurl, convicted of first-degree murder and gun possession, is beginning a life sentence in the Tennessee Department of Correction with the possibility of parole . The sentencing closes out the criminal case arising from Rhea’s November 2024 killing outside the South Cleveland Street bar; the available reporting documents no separate civil proceedings and no pending appeal .
Impact on Their Career/Life
The available reporting documents no occupation or public role for Wurl beyond his criminal record — he was convicted as a felon in possession of a firearm, a status that itself reflects prior felony conduct . For Memphis music, the loss was Rhea’s: a sideman and teacher gone from a band that had reached the Grammys, and from a school where he trained the city’s young players, with the man responsible for his death now serving a life sentence that will be measured against a parole eligibility date .
Sources
- “Man sentenced to life with parole in killing of Memphis musician” — Action News 5 (WMC), November 2026: source