Investigators say Collan Lee Carter discussed Tresa Long’s stabbing while denying that he had entered the apartment where she was found dead.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A man charged with first-degree murder in the death of his Memphis neighbor allegedly told detectives that he had heard she was stabbed multiple times, giving investigators a detail police say had not been publicly released when they questioned him about the killing.

The statement became one part of the case police built against Collan Lee Carter after Tresa Long was found dead inside her apartment during an April welfare check. According to reporting based on a Memphis Police Department probable cause affidavit, investigators had already reviewed surveillance footage, apartment leasing records and other material linking Carter to Long’s building. Carter allegedly acknowledged that he was the man shown in distinctive clothing on the video but denied entering Long’s apartment. Police say the footage showed otherwise. His separate reference to the stabbing then drew additional attention because authorities had not publicly described the manner of Long’s death at that point.

Police were initially sent to Long’s apartment at The Villages Apartments on Jackson Avenue shortly after 1:30 a.m. April 6. The call was for a welfare check, not a reported homicide. First responders encountered an odor coming from the locked apartment, according to the affidavit account. The Memphis Fire Department forced its way inside, and officers found Long dead in a bedroom. Her body had been there long enough to show significant decomposition. Investigators reported no sign that somebody had forced entry through the apartment door, leaving detectives to determine who had last been inside and how that person had gained access.

The medical examination changed the focus of the inquiry. The West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center determined that Long’s death was a homicide and found that she had suffered multiple stab wounds to her neck. The reported range was seven to 10 wounds. Police did not immediately announce those findings publicly. That distinction later mattered when detectives interviewed Carter because, according to investigators, he volunteered that he had heard Long was stabbed multiple times. Authorities have not publicly explained where Carter claimed to have obtained that information, and the allegation does not by itself establish how he knew it.

Detectives also worked backward from Long’s apartment using surveillance video that covered the entrance area. According to the affidavit, footage from about 3:02 a.m. March 29 showed a man leaving Long’s apartment wearing a black, red and white hoodie marked with the number 23. The man then walked toward another apartment in the same complex. Investigators checked leasing records for that unit and identified it as Carter’s residence. Police later used database information to identify Carter as the man they believed was captured on the surveillance recording. The footage became a central link between Long’s apartment and the nearby resident who would later be charged.

The video review did not stop with the early-morning departure. Detectives examined footage covering the days that followed Long’s last apparent activity. According to police, people came to her door and knocked but received no answer. Packages remained outside. Investigators said they saw no signs of life from the apartment after the man identified as Carter left on March 29. Those observations helped establish a timeline extending from the surveillance recording to the welfare check more than a week later. They did not, however, establish a publicly known motive or explain what happened inside the apartment before the man was recorded leaving.

Investigators eventually obtained a warrant connected to Carter’s apartment and took him in for questioning. Police say Carter acknowledged that he was the person wearing the distinctive hoodie captured by the cameras. At the same time, he allegedly denied that he had gone into Long’s apartment. Detectives confronted him with footage they said showed him leaving that unit. The affidavit account does not indicate that Carter confessed to killing Long. Instead, the prosecution case described publicly so far rests on a combination of video evidence, the geographic link between the apartments, the timeline developed by investigators and statements police say Carter made during the interview.

It was during that questioning that detectives say Carter brought up the unreleased detail. He allegedly told investigators that he had “heard that Tresa Long was stabbed multiple times.” Police considered the remark significant because the nature of the homicide had not yet been made public, according to the affidavit account reported by Law&Crime. Investigators have not publicly identified another person who supposedly gave Carter that information. They also have not released a fuller transcript of the interview showing the surrounding discussion. As with other statements contained in a probable cause filing, the allegation represents investigators’ account and can be contested as the criminal case moves forward.

The investigation continued for months after Long was found. Authorities ultimately charged Carter with first-degree murder in July. A separate report from Memphis television station WMC confirmed that Carter was arrested after police obtained a warrant and that the case involved the April 6 discovery of a woman at an apartment complex in the 3800 block of Jackson Avenue. Public reports have differed on Carter’s age, with some describing him as 48 and another listing him as 49, so his age is not central to the account. The first-degree murder charge is an accusation, and Carter is presumed innocent unless and until prosecutors prove the charge in court.

The delay between the discovery of Long’s body and Carter’s arrest has not been publicly explained in detail. Police appear to have spent that period reviewing surveillance material, checking leasing information and developing evidence for the case, but authorities have not released a complete investigative timeline. They also have not announced a motive for Long’s killing. Nothing in the publicly available material establishes why Long was allegedly attacked, what interaction preceded her death or whether investigators believe the person responsible had planned the encounter. Those unanswered questions remain separate from the evidence police cited in support of Carter’s arrest.

Residents of the apartment complex later told Memphis television station WREG that they had not realized a homicide investigation was unfolding around them. One resident recalled officers canvassing the area after Long was found but said neighbors did not know another person living nearby would eventually become the suspect. Other residents reacted to the role of surveillance cameras in the investigation and to the allegation that a person later charged in the killing had continued living close to the apartment where Long was discovered. Their accounts illustrate how much of the investigation remained outside public view during the months between the welfare check and arrest.

The case now turns on whether prosecutors can prove that Carter was responsible for Long’s death rather than simply establish that investigators believe he was near or inside her apartment. The surveillance footage, forensic findings and Carter’s alleged statements may all be scrutinized in court, where the defense can challenge the state’s interpretation and seek additional evidence. Public reporting has not identified an eyewitness to the killing, a publicly stated motive or a confession. Police also have not publicly detailed all forensic evidence collected from either apartment. Those gaps do not determine the outcome, but they mark the difference between the probable cause needed for an arrest and the proof required for a conviction.

As of the latest verified reporting reviewed for this article, Carter had been charged with first-degree murder and was being held in connection with Long’s death. No reliable later public report reviewed here establishes a final disposition of the case. The investigation described in the arrest materials remains an allegation until tested in court, and authorities have not publicly announced a motive for the killing.

Author note: Last updated Aug. 27, 2026.