Memphis family invites CBU students to review unsolved killings of brothers Shea and Beau Grauer
A classroom project takes on two unresolved homicides
The family of Shea and Beau Grauer is welcoming a new, student-led review of the brothers’ unsolved deaths as a group of college writers begins an independent examination of publicly available records, community interviews and background reporting tied to the cases.
The effort is centered in an upper-level creative nonfiction, true-crime writing course at Christian Brothers University (CBU), where students are being assigned to research and write on the deaths of Shea Grauer, 55, and Beau Grauer, 50, along with a third death connected to the timeline surrounding Beau Grauer’s killing.
What is known about the two killings
Beau Grauer was killed during a reported home invasion on Hawthorne Street in Midtown on July 24, 2022. Officers responding late that evening found him inside the residence with a gunshot wound; he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Shea Grauer was shot and killed on Feb. 18, 2023, near Lockett Place and Belvedere Boulevard in Midtown. Police publicly described the incident as an apparent robbery, reporting that the gunman took Shea Grauer’s wallet.
In Shea Grauer’s case, law enforcement has previously released surveillance imagery from the night of the shooting showing an individual walking away from the area. As of the latest public updates, neither homicide has been announced as cleared by arrest.
A third death in the timeline
In addition to the two homicides, the course is also reviewing the death of Beau Grauer’s girlfriend, Allison Joulwan Mironovich, who died of a drug overdose on Aug. 1, 2022—one week after Beau Grauer was killed. She was scheduled to speak with detectives about the home-invasion homicide, and her death has been treated by the family as part of the broader circumstances they want examined and better understood.
How the student investigation is expected to work
The course framework assigns students to build case timelines, compile documents and produce narrative reporting about the victims’ lives and the known facts of each investigation. The family has indicated it hopes a “fresh set of eyes” will identify patterns, overlooked details, or leads that can be forwarded to law enforcement for follow-up.
The project is being approached as a reporting and writing effort rather than an official law-enforcement inquiry, with students conducting research and interviews while coordinating what they learn into written case narratives.
Where the cases sit inside Memphis policing
Unsolved homicides can be reviewed through specialized investigative processes, including cold-case evaluation after leads are exhausted and time passes without new developments. Memphis Police maintain a designated Cold Case Unit that reviews unsolved killings, re-interviews witnesses and assesses whether newer forensic methods could produce additional leads.
The Grauer family has said a homicide detective is now assigned across the related cases, and they continue to seek any information that could move the investigations forward.