In the early hours of May 19, 2019, a male, 33-year-old Dorian Brooks of Savannah, Georgia, was found deceased from gunshot wounds. The discovery was made by police officers around 2:50 a.m. near the intersection of Interstate 16 and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard following a report of an injured person. Brooks, who was born on February 23, 1986, was also known to have ties to Hardeeville, South Carolina. He was a father and was remembered for his passion for creating music and his charitable activities, which included organizing back-to-school fundraisers and feeding the homeless.
The investigation into Brooks' death led authorities to identify two suspects: Charles Doles, a 25-year-old rapper also known as Baby Soulja, and 48-year-old Adrian Dove. After a multi-agency effort, Dove was apprehended in Ithaca, New York, on September 3, 2019, by the New York-New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force. Doles was taken into custody on September 18, 2019, by the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office in Georgia. Doles was subsequently charged with murder, while Dove faced a charge of being a party to a crime.
Following the arrests, a Chatham County grand jury indicted Charles Doles on charges of malice murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault, in addition to three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Adrian Dove was also indicted, along with two other men, J'Von Thomas and Bertram McDonald, on charges of hindering the apprehension or punishment of a criminal. A fifth individual, Tyrone Woods, was indicted for allegedly assisting Doles in evading law enforcement and providing false information to a detective. Both Doles and Dove were extradited to Chatham County and held in the county jail.
The events leading up to the fatal shooting reportedly began with an altercation at the Island Breeze nightclub in Savannah, where Charles Doles was performing. According to a video released by Doles, he claimed that he was harassed by Dorian Brooks throughout the night, which allegedly included verbal threats and having a drink thrown in his face. Doles asserted that after he left the club, Brooks followed him, leading to the deadly encounter. On March 11, 2022, Charles Doles pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter. As part of a plea agreement, the murder and other charges were dropped. He was sentenced to two years and five months in jail, which he had already served, and was subsequently released on probation for a term of 12 years and seven months.
