A somber gathering to remember a life lost was shattered by gunfire on a Sunday evening in late November 2022, resulting in the death of 17-year-old Ian Hagerty in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia. The male teenager was among the mourners at a candlelight vigil at the Highlands at East Atlanta apartment complex on Flat Shoals Road in DeKalb County when the fatal shooting occurred.
Two other young people, a 16-year-old and an 11-year-old, were also wounded in the incident but were reported to be in stable condition.
The vigil was being held for Taneaious McCune, an 18-year-old who had been killed just two days earlier during an attempted home invasion. Witnesses reported that a gunman approached Ian Hagerty and opened fire before fleeing the scene on foot. The motive for the shooting was not immediately clear to investigators. Ian, who was born on January 12, 2005, was remembered as a loving child with a great sense of humor and a passion for sports, particularly swimming and basketball. He had recently become a father to a son named Henry.
In the days following the shooting, DeKalb County police arrested a suspect in connection with Ian Hagerty's death. Twenty-three-year-old Kendell Torrence was taken into custody and charged with murder. At the time of his arrest, police indicated that they were also searching for another individual, described as the 'main suspect' in the case, and released photos of this person to the public. However, public information regarding any subsequent arrest of this second individual or the outcome of the legal proceedings against Kendell Torrence, including details of a trial or conviction, has not been made available.
