When Metro Nashville Police officers responded to a call by a wreck in the early morning hours of Sept. 28, 2016, they found a white Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck crashed into the treeline off Ellington Parkway.
They found the driver dead but not from the crash. Ryan Scott Trent had been shot, likely by another motorist, which caused him to hit the tree.
Ryan's family has offered an $11,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the whoever is responsible in fatally shooting him. The reward is good until April 2020 and is in addition to reward money of up to $1,000 being offered by Nashville Crime Stoppers.
"Hopefully someone will have a conscious, and they'll come forward with the information we need for justice," Ryan's father Glenn Trent said.
Anyone with information about Ryan Trent's murder, or who may have overheard conversations of persons with knowledge of the case, is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463. Callers to Crime Stoppers can remain anonymous.
The Victim
Ryan Scott Trent, 29, of Nashville, had battled addiction in the past, but had gotten his life back on track, his brother Brandon Trent said in an interview.
Ryan had cleaned up and moved to Nashville in 2015. He quickly found work as a night manager for Premier Parking, where he supervised four lots in downtown Nashville.
He had even found the love of his life, Brittany Robinson, who called him a "kind soul."
His parents described him as a "jokester," who loved his family and his motorcycle.
"When he walked in the room, he would light it up, just like a camera flash," Glenn Trent said, adding his son was always smiling and never met a stranger. He definitely not the type of guy who would be the target of a random road rage incident.
Ryan grew up in Knoxville. He was survived by his parents, fiancé, brother, grandparents and extended family, who he was planning on visiting just a few days after he was killed.
"The only way that we can hear his voice is from a voicemail that my wife saved," Glenn Trent said in 2016.
The Murder
Ryan was driving home from his late shift. He was traveling on Ellington Parkway's northbound lanes in Madison when a bullet struck him. He veered off the road and into a tree line at Briley Parkway in his white Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck.
A passerby called police around 2:45 a.m. Sept. 28, 2016, after noticing the truck.
Police initially thought Ryan had fallen asleep at the wheel and died at the scene from injuries sustained in the crash, but the medical examiner found he died from a gunshot wound to his head.
"We were told he had died in a car wreck," Sharon Trent, Ryan's mother, told News Channel 5. "But a little later we found out someone shot him."
MNPD investigators believe the shooting was the result of a random road rage incident.
Texts on Ryan's phone do not show anything amiss during his time at work, but an hour after his last text, he was dead.
The GPS on his truck didn't yield any answers either. The data said Ryan was driving between 55 MPH and 60 MHP before coming to a rapid stop when he struck the tree.
The only thing police know for sure is that his driver-side window was rolled down.
Metro Nashville Police held an overnight road block in September 2017 as they investigated the shooting. It didn't produce the leads they needed.
The only clue they have is the bullet the medical examiner found in Ryan's skull.
The Reward
Glenn Trent has hope that the $11,000 reward will help solve the case.
Stranger-on-stranger crime is the most difficult to solve and often takes someone telling the secret.
"He can't speak anymore, and we want to speak for him, and we'll continue to do this for as long as it takes," Glenn Trent, Ryan Trent's father told WSMV.
They have offer the reward since the murder but haven't had to pay any tipsters yet.
"I just want to know what happened, what possessed somebody to do such a horrific crime and why did they take his life? He was a joyous human being," Glenn Trent said.
Anyone with information about Ryan Trent's murder, or who may have overheard conversations of persons with knowledge of the case, is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463. Callers to Crime Stoppers can remain anonymous.
