In a tragic turn of events, what was supposed to be a simple sale of a video game console ended in the death of 24-year-old Larry Stewart in December 2017. The young man had utilized the OfferUp app to find a buyer for his PlayStation 4 and arranged to meet the interested party at an apartment complex in East Point, a city in the Atlanta metropolitan area.
Friends and family had expressed their unease about the transaction, suggesting he sell it at a store instead, but Stewart proceeded with the arranged meeting.
During the encounter in a stairwell of the apartment complex, the intended sale turned deadly. Stewart was shot multiple times in the chest. Despite being wounded, he attempted to flee but collapsed shortly after. The shooter reportedly took the gaming system and fled the scene, leaving Stewart to die. First responders found him bleeding heavily and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation into the senseless murder led police to identify Quantavious Poole as the primary suspect. For over a month, Poole remained at large. However, in a significant development in January 2018, he surrendered to the authorities. This came about after police contacted his mother, who then persuaded her son to turn himself in. Stewart's parents, who are pastors, expressed a sense of closure but were still left with the haunting question of why their son had to die over something as trivial as a video game.
Following his surrender, Quantavious Poole was taken into custody. The case proceeded through the legal system, and in a move that devastated Stewart's family, a Fulton County judge granted bond for Poole in June 2018, after he had been denied bond on two previous occasions. The family, who had found some relief in his arrest, felt the wound of their loss reopened by this decision. The Fulton County District Attorney's office stated that they had strongly objected to the issuance of bond.
