In the early hours of June 4, 2021, a 25-year-old Black transgender woman named Skyler Gilmore was tragically killed in her Stone Mountain, Georgia, apartment. The events leading to her death began with a phone call. Gilmore was on the phone with a friend when she received another call to let someone in at the front gate of her apartment complex. Shortly after, Gilmore called her friend back in distress, stating that she had been shot. Her friend rushed to her aid and immediately dialed 911. Police arrived to find Gilmore unresponsive in her bedroom with a single gunshot wound to her torso. She was transported to a local hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.
The investigation into Gilmore's murder led authorities to two members of a local gang, JaQuan Brooks, 25, and Davonte Fore, 26. Investigators discovered that the gang had ordered Gilmore's murder because she was in a relationship with another member of the gang. Cell phone data and surveillance footage from the apartment complex placed both Brooks and Fore at the scene at the time of the shooting. The video showed Brooks driving a white Nissan Rogue with Fore in the passenger seat entering the complex gate around the time Gilmore had received the call. Text messages between Gilmore and a phone belonging to Fore, including the gate code sent just minutes before her death, further implicated the two men.
In October, a jury found both JaQuan Brooks and Davonte Fore guilty of Malice Murder, two counts of Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, and Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Felony. Brooks was immediately taken into custody following the verdict. However, Davonte Fore, who had been released on a $25,000 bond in February pending trial over the objections of prosecutors, fled during the trial before the jury reached their verdict.
In November, both men were sentenced. JaQuan Brooks received a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole, plus five years. Davonte Fore was sentenced in his absence to life with the possibility of parole, plus an additional 15 years for other charges. Authorities consider Fore a danger to the community and a fugitive from justice. There is an active search for him, and it is believed he may have fled to California where he has known ties. Skyler Gilmore's father expressed his hope for Fore's swift capture so that his daughter's case can be fully closed.
