In the summer of 2022, a teenage gathering in Lagrange, Georgia, turned deadly, leaving a community in mourning and a young man's life cut tragically short. Laquan Dewberry, a 16-year-old male, was fatally wounded on the night of June 24th. The incident unfolded outside Mason's World, a local restaurant on Hogansville Road, where a dispute between two groups of teenagers escalated into gunfire.
Dewberry was struck in the upper torso during the altercation. He was later found at a nearby car wash on Vernon Street, nearly two miles from the initial scene. Emergency services transported him to Wellstar West Georgia Medical Center, but he ultimately succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead. Two other teenagers were also injured in the shooting; a 16-year-old male was shot in the leg, and a 17-year-old female also sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Both were treated and subsequently released.
The investigation into Dewberry's death led authorities to identify a suspect. In December 2022, six months after the fatal shooting, 18-year-old Ah'Traveon Van'Quavious Stephens was arrested by Atlanta police at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. He was taken into custody and booked into the Troup County Jail. Stephens faced charges of murder and aggravated assault in connection with the shooting that resulted in the death of Laquan Dewberry.
