I haven't seen any real description of the assailants. "One or more". So we don't even have a count of the number of people involved.
The sentenced man is still in jail so he personally could not have done anything to Smith. This was the same alibi used by the middle easterners in the Tennessee DL scam when Katherine Smith died. So either people in the Memphis jail are communicating to others to murder people and issue death threats or they aren't. The media doesn't seem to see it this way.
The media has strange powers of observation. They look through a lens called an agenda.
This is the week of the big fight. Can't any thing be brought up that may detract from that. Nevermind that childern are being shot up in gang warfare. Nevermind that the may be a whale of a security problem in and around town. Nevermind that police coverage is dangeriously thin so downtown can be covered. Nevermind the other stuff. The fight is just too damned important.