In the early morning hours of December 7, 2019, the life of 23-year-old JaBrie Savonjay Dominguez was tragically cut short in Augusta, Georgia. The young man was at a local nightclub when gunfire erupted, leaving him and another man, 28-year-old Charles Edward Lawson III, fatally wounded. Dominguez was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:00 a.m., having been shot at least once.
Lawson was transported to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
The investigation into the double homicide led authorities to 19-year-old Antoine Redfield. He was stopped by law enforcement while leaving the area shortly after the shooting and was taken in for questioning. Following the interrogation, Redfield was arrested and faced serious charges, including two counts of murder, aggravated assault, and weapons-related offenses. It was later revealed that the incident was considered a chaotic gunfight between four individuals, with two fatalities.
In a controversial turn of events, the murder charges against Antoine Redfield were ultimately dismissed. The District Attorney's office cited an inability to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Redfield had not acted in self-defense or in the defense of others. They stated that neither witness testimony nor forensic evidence could definitively establish who fired the first shot. This decision was met with criticism, particularly from the former district attorney who was in office when the killings occurred. She argued that even without the murder charges, other charges could have been pursued to keep Redfield incarcerated. Just two months after his release, Redfield was implicated and charged in a separate drive-by shooting that resulted in the death of an 8-year-old girl.
