Reward Offered In Murder Of Music Row Employee

Nov. 11, 2005

Metro police said Eric Mansfield, 33, was shot and killed last Friday night near his East Nashville home. A $25,000 reward has now been offered by Warner Bros. Records for information leading to Mansfield’s killer.

Police said Mansfield’s body was found inside his Volkswagen. He had been shot in the chest, apparently while he was looking for a place to park near his Chapel Avenue home.

Mansfield worked as director of creative services for Warner Bros. Records, and his employer has posted a $25,000 reward for any new information leading to an arrest in his murder. That reward is in addition to the $1,000 being offered by the Metro Police CrimeStoppers program.

“This is a senseless crime. Everybody here at Music Row today is very shocked, very saddened by what's happened,” said Vince Foster, a friend of Mansfield’s.

Police said they believe Mansfield was shot during a robbery attempt, and Sixth District Councilman Mike Jameson has heard from several of Mansfield’s neighbors who are concerned about the apparently random crime.

“I think we've made progress in terms of crime, in terms of the statistics, but the perception is that there has been a sudden spike just in the last couple of weeks and a concern that things are getting back to the way they were 10 years ago. We just can't have that,” Jameson said. “(Mansfield) was not involved in a drug deal or doing anything illegal. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that's the sort of thing that makes us the most nervous, that it could be any of us, our children our spouses, and that's the sort of crime that gets the most angst.”

Councilman Jameson has scheduled a community meeting Monday night with police and residents to talk about the violence. That meeting will take place at 8:00 p.m. at 1425 Greenwood Avenue in East Nashville.

Police would not say said if they had any solid leads in the murder of Eric Mansfield, but no one has been charged yet with the crime and no witnesses have come forward.