In the early morning hours of November 6, 2020, a dispute outside an Atlanta nightclub escalated into a fatal shooting, claiming the life of 34-year-old Mark Blakely from Chicago. The altercation and subsequent gunfire also resulted in the death of 26-year-old Dayvon Bennett, a rapper known as King Von.
The incident unfolded around 4 a.m. in the parking lot of the Monaco Hookah Lounge located at 255 Trinity Avenue in downtown Atlanta.
A preliminary investigation indicated that an argument broke out between two groups of men who had just left the Opium Nightclub and had gone to the hookah lounge. The verbal confrontation quickly turned violent, with gunfire erupting between the two parties before police arrived at the scene.
Two off-duty Atlanta police officers who were working security at the lounge and one on-duty officer who was nearby responded to the shootout. The officers engaged with the individuals involved, and shots were fired by the police. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called to the scene to conduct an independent investigation into the officers' use of force, as is standard procedure. In total, six people were shot during the incident.
In the aftermath of the shooting, investigators arrested Timothy Leeks, then 22 years old, and charged him with the murder of King Von. However, reports later indicated that the murder charge against Leeks was dismissed in 2023. Two other men, Johnny Harris and Kevin Jones, were also arrested in connection with the shootout. Harris was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and Jones faced a charge of aggravated assault. While arrests were made in relation to the overall incident, it has not been publicly clarified who was responsible for the death of Mark Blakely.
