In the spring of 2018, just a month shy of his high school graduation, 18-year-old Nicholas Glasco's life was tragically cut short. On the afternoon of Saturday, April 14, in Stone Mountain, Georgia, police responded to a call on Old Friar Tuck Lane to find the young man suffering from a critical gunshot wound. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, but his injuries proved to be fatal.
The investigation into the shooting quickly led to an arrest.
Evidence and statements from witnesses pointed to Nicholas's friend, 18-year-old Dean Dunkley. Initially, Dunkley claimed that Glasco had shot himself. However, he later admitted to shooting his friend and hiding the 9mm Luger used in the incident. Dunkley was taken into custody the same day and was initially charged with murder. He was held in the DeKalb County jail without bond. The news was a devastating shock to their families, who knew the two as best friends who were both eagerly anticipating their graduation from Redan High School.
As the legal proceedings unfolded, the narrative of the tragic event began to shift. By July of that year, a grand jury handed down a new indictment, changing the charges against Dean Dunkley. The murder charge was replaced with involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence. The indictment suggested that Dunkley had been behaving recklessly when he accidentally shot his friend. This change in charges indicated that the act was not believed to be intentional, but rather a tragic accident that cost a young man his life and forever altered the course of another's.
