On the night of February 17, 2017, in Savannah, Georgia, a burst of gunfire shattered the peace within the Yamacraw Village housing project, leaving two people dead and another seriously wounded. Erick Lakeem 'Poosie' Lawrence, a 25-year-old male, was one of the individuals who lost his life that night. The incident, which police later stated they believed to be drug-related, unfolded inside a two-story apartment.
Responding to a 911 call at approximately 10:28 p.m., officers from the
Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department arrived to a grim scene. Inside the apartment, they discovered the bodies of Lawrence and 35-year-old Tori Plummer. A third victim, 27-year-old Dennis Harris, was also found with serious, though not life-threatening, injuries and was transported to a nearby hospital. Investigators found no signs of forced entry, leading them to believe the assailant or assailants simply walked in and opened fire.
The deaths of Lawrence and Plummer marked the sixth and seventh homicides in Savannah for 2017. For one detective, it was the first homicide case of his career. Despite the passage of time and an ongoing investigation, the case has grown cold due to a lack of viable leads. As of early 2021, no suspects had been publicly identified, and no arrests had been made in connection with the double homicide. The case remains a painful, unsolved puzzle for the families of the victims and the detective for whom it is his only homicide case yet to be closed.
