Accused killer of Memphis police officer to be arraigned on Wednesday

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[August 05, 2015]  By Tim Ghianni
 
 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Reuters) - A man accused of fatally shooting a Memphis police officer is due to be arraigned on a first-degree murder charge on Wednesday, two days after he turned himself in and was jailed on a bond of almost $10 million.

Tremaine Wilbourn, 29, surrendered to federal marshals on Monday after the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation placed him on its top-10 fugitives list and started a manhunt. The arraignment before the Shelby County General Sessions Criminal Court Division will be through a video link.

Wilbourn is accused of fatally shooting police officer Sean Bolton, 33, multiple times during a scuffle Saturday. Bolton had pulled up to a parked car and apparently interrupted a drug deal, Memphis police said.

Police said Wilbourn was a passenger in the car. The driver had previously surrendered to police and was released without charge.

Wilbourn was on parole after serving a 10-year sentence for bank robbery.

Bolton, a former Marine, was the third Memphis police officer to be shot and killed in the past four years.

Visitation for Bolton will be held at Hope Presbyterian Church on Wednesday in Memphis from 5 to 8 p.m., Memphis Police said in a statement.

The funeral will be held Thursday at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis at 11 a.m., followed by internment at West Tennessee Veterans Cemetery at 2:45 p.m.

(Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Eric Walsh)

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