In the spring of 2018, just days after celebrating his high school graduation, 18-year-old Joshua Torrance’s promising future was tragically cut short. On the morning of May 30th, in Atlanta, Georgia, Joshua was found with a gunshot wound to his back at his apartment complex on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. He was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital in critical condition but ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
Joshua, a recent honors graduate of B.E.S.T.
Academy, was an ambitious young man with plans to attend Albany State University in the fall to pursue a degree in either engineering or architecture. He was a HOPE Scholarship recipient and was described by his family as a smart, hardworking individual who was focused on bettering himself. His uncle, Brian Keith Williams, tearfully recalled how his nephew knew how to walk away from trouble, a sentiment that made the fact he was shot in the back all the more devastating for his loved ones. Witnesses reported that Joshua had been in an argument with the shooter shortly before the fatal shots were fired.
In the wake of the shooting, Atlanta police released surveillance video of a person of interest, described as a Black male wearing a black hoodie, light shorts, and flip-flops. The community was urged to come forward with any information, and a reward was offered for tips leading to an arrest and indictment. The senseless violence that claimed Joshua's life was part of a distressing spike in teen gun violence in the metro Atlanta area at the time.
Less than a month after Joshua's death, an arrest was made in the case. Justin Collier, 19, was taken into custody in Decatur and charged with murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He was subsequently booked into the Fulton County jail. The motive for the shooting was reported to be a botched robbery that occurred when Joshua was attempting to buy a cell phone from someone online.
