Authorities documented neck, chest and facial injuries after an encounter that led to attempted murder, kidnapping, domestic assault and theft allegations.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Police responding to an alleged domestic attack in northeast Memphis found a woman with bruising and abrasions around her neck and chest and a serious bite wound on her cheek, injuries authorities say followed a struggle with her former boyfriend inside a locked car.
Those observations form part of the evidence described in the case against Khy’ric Mason, 27, a Memphis Fire Services employee charged with attempted first-degree murder, kidnapping, domestic assault causing bodily harm and theft of property. Investigators also relied on the woman’s account of being held by the neck, her effort to summon help with the car horn and the intervention of her 9-year-old son and several relatives. The charges remain allegations, and the sources reviewed for this story do not establish a conviction or other final disposition.
The case began as a relationship dispute but escalated into allegations carrying substantially different factual components. Police said Mason and the 25-year-old woman were sitting in her Hyundai Elantra with her son outside a northeast Memphis residence. The woman’s phone began ringing, according to an affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime. Mason asked who was calling, and investigators said he became upset when she did not answer. Local television reporting cited by Law&Crime said the woman had broken up with Mason before the confrontation.
Investigators allege Mason then changed the circumstances inside the vehicle by telling the child to go into the house and locking the doors after he left. That portion of the police account is important to the kidnapping accusation because authorities say the woman was confined inside the car as the physical encounter unfolded. Public reporting does not provide the prosecution’s eventual legal theory in detail, and it would be premature to conclude from the initial charge alone how a court will evaluate the allegation.
Police said Mason reached toward the woman from the passenger seat, placed both hands around her neck and began strangling her. The affidavit says he pulled and twisted her neck while moving his body toward the back seat and attempting to pull her backward. The woman resisted. According to investigators, she kicked or pressed the steering-wheel horn to attract attention and bit Mason’s finger as she tried to get free. Authorities allege he maintained his grip during that resistance.
The facial injury became one of the most distinctive pieces of physical evidence described by responding officers. Investigators accused Mason of biting the woman’s left cheek during the struggle. Officers later reported seeing a bite wound with tissue missing from that area. Because the underlying allegation involves a significant injury, reports of the incident have used stark language taken from the affidavit. The available sources, however, do not provide medical photographs, surgical records or a physician’s description, and no additional graphic detail is needed to establish what police say they observed.
The woman’s son became a witness and an active participant in the effort to end the encounter, according to police. Authorities said the 9-year-old opened the passenger-side door and tried to help his mother escape. Her screams then drew several of Mason’s relatives from the nearby residence. Those family members separated Mason from the woman, according to the affidavit. The reports do not identify the relatives or say whether investigators obtained independent statements from each of them, leaving the charging affidavit as the main public account of their intervention.
The alleged conduct did not end when the physical struggle stopped. Police say Mason drove away in the woman’s Hyundai without permission after relatives separated the pair. That allegation accounts for the theft count filed alongside the violent-crime charges. A local report summarized by Hoodline said the property was valued between $2,500 and $10,000. Available reporting does not describe damage to the vehicle or say how long Mason allegedly had it before police located him.
The injury observations documented by officers add a separate evidentiary layer to the woman’s statement. Police reported abrasions and bruising around her neck and chest in addition to the wound on her cheek. Those findings do not by themselves resolve every disputed issue in a criminal case, but they are tangible observations authorities cited after responding. The reports reviewed for this article do not state whether officers collected DNA evidence, photographed the scene, obtained surveillance video, examined the vehicle for forensic evidence or recovered communications between Mason and the woman.
Several other facts also remain outside the public record available in the initial coverage. No recording of the confrontation has been reported. The sources do not identify the caller whose ringing phone allegedly preceded the argument, and they do not say whether that person witnessed any part of the incident. They also do not provide a complete timeline between Mason’s alleged departure in the Hyundai and his arrest. Those gaps matter because an arrest affidavit is an early-stage account prepared to establish probable cause, not a complete presentation of all evidence that might later appear in court.
The attempted first-degree murder accusation is the most serious of the four reported charges. The affidavit’s description of Mason allegedly pulling and twisting the woman’s neck while strangling her is among the conduct authorities cited in the case. Still, the existence of that charge should not be treated as a finding that Mason intended to kill the woman or that prosecutors will ultimately prove the offense. Intent and the other required elements would have to be established through the legal process if the charge proceeds.
Mason’s public employment can be confirmed independently of the criminal allegations. A city salary report from 2024 listed Khyric Mason under Fire Services as Fire Private II, and a January 2025 city record carried the same job title. An earlier 2023 report listed Mason as a Fire Recruit, showing a progression in his municipal employment before the arrest. None of those payroll documents concerns the criminal case itself, and the reliable sources reviewed did not establish what personnel action, if any, the fire department took after Mason was charged.
That distinction is important because Mason’s occupation has been prominent in coverage of the case. The alleged assault was not reported as occurring at a fire station, during an emergency response or while Mason was exercising public authority. Instead, police describe conduct inside a privately owned Hyundai during a personal relationship dispute outside a residence. The employment records verify who Mason worked for, but they do not add proof to the underlying criminal accusations.
What happens next depends on proceedings beyond the initial arrest affidavit. Reporting published after Mason’s arrest identified a $100,000 bond and an upcoming bond hearing, while the sources available through Sept. 20 did not establish any final ruling on the four charges. The police account remains the basis of the accusations, not a judicial finding of guilt.
Author note: Last updated September 20, 2026.