On a tragic evening in Albany, New York, a 20-year-old Black man named Equan Lamir Poppa Fallen lost his life in a burst of gunfire. The fatal shooting occurred on June 12, 2018, just before 6:30 p.m. outside his family's apartment located at 448 Livingston Avenue. Fallen was struck in the torso and rushed to Albany Medical Center Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The front doors of the building were left riddled with bullet holes, a stark testament to the violence that had unfolded.
Neighbors remembered Fallen as a friendly and respectful young man. His death was a profound loss for a family that had already endured significant hardship; nine years prior, his parents had married in a hospital ceremony as his father was dying of cancer.
The investigation into Equan Fallen's murder led to the arrests of two men: Trayron Palmer, 21, of Vergennes, Vermont, and Shaquille Moore, 26, of Albany. Both men were charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. Surveillance footage played a crucial role in the case, capturing the moment Palmer and Moore fired multiple shots at a crowded porch where Fallen was present.
In the ensuing legal proceedings, both men were held accountable for their roles in the fatal shooting. Trayron Palmer pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and was sentenced in April 2019 to 23 years in state prison, to be followed by five years of post-release supervision. The following month, Shaquille Moore pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. In August 2019, Moore was sentenced to 18 years to life in prison. During Palmer's sentencing, Fallen's mother, Jody Fallen, emotionally described the horror of watching her son die and questioned the senselessness of the violence that took his life.
