On a Tuesday evening in Dublin, Georgia, the life of 28-year-old McKerick Guyton, an African American male, was tragically cut short. On January 15, 2019, Guyton was a passenger in a friend's car, simply getting a ride home, when gunfire erupted at the corner of North Calhoun Street and Sunset Drive. The incident was reportedly a drug deal that escalated into a robbery, and according to Dublin Police Chief Tim Chatman, the bullets were intended for someone else in the vehicle, making Guyton an unintended victim of the violent exchange. Two other individuals in the car were also injured in the shooting.
In the aftermath of the shooting, three suspects were identified by law enforcement. Jaswain Bell, who was 18 years old at the time, was charged with murder. Bell himself was injured during the incident and required hospitalization. Another man, 23-year-old Jerrell Terry, was arrested and charged with being a party to the crime of murder. A third suspect, 21-year-old Gerez Duty, was also sought by police in connection with the fatal shooting. Despite the initial charges, the legal process for Guyton's death faced significant hurdles.
The primary suspect, Jaswain Bell, was never indicted for the murder of McKerick Guyton. The case remained with the District Attorney's Office, and no further legal action was pursued against him for this specific crime. This lack of indictment left Guyton's family, including his girlfriend Bridgett Lewis with whom he shared two daughters, in a prolonged state of grief and without a sense of justice. Lewis remembered Guyton as an outgoing and funny person who was a devoted friend, boyfriend, brother, and son. The pain of her loss was compounded in 2024 when Bell was arrested, and later convicted, for a separate double murder that occurred on Easter Sunday. Bell was found guilty on 37 counts, including malice murder and felony murder, and was sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 410 years.
