On the evening of March 10, 2017, in Statesboro, Georgia, a tragic event unfolded at the Eagle Gate Apartments on South Mulberry Street, resulting in the death of Joaquin Brown, an African American male. Responding to a reported disturbance shortly after 8 p.m., officers from the Statesboro Police Department and the Bulloch County Sheriff's Office arrived to a scene of visible distress among neighbors who had gathered outside.
Inside one of the apartments, law enforcement discovered a
deeply unsettling situation. According to the Bulloch County Coroner, Joaquin Brown and a woman named Sharell Mercer had been involved in an argument. The altercation escalated to a devastating conclusion when Brown produced a revolver and shot himself in the head. In the immediate aftermath, Mercer used the same weapon to inflict a fatal gunshot wound upon herself.
Emergency medical services were dispatched to the scene. Sharell Mercer was pronounced dead within the apartment. Joaquin Brown was transported to East Georgia Regional Medical Center, but succumbed to his injuries shortly after arrival. The official investigation conducted by detectives, which included interviews with family members and a review of the physical evidence, led the Statesboro Police Department to rule the incident as a double suicide.
The gravity of the event was further compounded by the presence of several juveniles in the apartment at the time of the shootings. They were taken into the care of the police department before being released to the Department of Family and Children's Services. While the case was declared a double suicide, the investigation remained open.
