In a tragic turn of events that underscored a life marked by violence, 19-year-old Cleveland Raines was shot and killed in Macon, Georgia. On the evening of June 4, 2022, deputies responded to a call of shots fired at an abandoned home in the 300-block of Jones Avenue. Upon arrival, they found a chaotic scene. Three individuals who had been shot had already been taken to a local hospital in a private vehicle.
Raines was discovered behind the house and was transported by ambulance to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The shooting on Jones Avenue also left three other people wounded: 23-year-old Jarvis Hill, 22-year-old Alizya Sinclair, and 19-year-old Ralph Hughes, who were all listed in stable condition. Tragically, a second victim, Jarvis Devon Hill, succumbed to medical complications on July 28, 2022. An autopsy was ordered to determine if his death was a direct result of the shooting. The Bibb County Sheriff's Office reported that several people were at the abandoned house for the purpose of gambling when the shooting occurred. As of the initial reports, no arrests had been made in connection with the shooting that claimed the life of Cleveland Raines.
This was not the first time Raines had been a victim of gun violence. In November of the previous year, he was one of two men shot behind a duplex in the 700 block of Grier Street. In that incident, 24-year-old Shawn Deontae Watts was fatally wounded, while Raines, then 18, was hospitalized but survived. An investigation into that shooting led to the arrest of Raines' own brother, 24-year-old Khalil Malik Raines. Authorities alleged that Khalil Raines drove his brother Cleveland to the hospital after the shooting. Following an interview with investigators, Khalil Raines was taken into custody and charged with murder in the death of Shawn Deontae Watts. Court filings later revealed that the Grier Street shooting stemmed from a dispute over a stolen firearm, where Watts allegedly punched and shot Cleveland Raines before being chased and fatally shot by Khalil Raines, who claimed he was acting in defense of his brother.
