In the early hours of a Sunday morning in Atlanta, Georgia, a dispute outside a Shell gas station at the intersection of Whitehall and McDaniel streets turned fatal, claiming the life of 36-year-old William Respress Jr. The incident, which unfolded around 3 a.m. on October 2, 2016, began as an argument between Respress and a small group of people.
The situation escalated dramatically when a compact silver-gray car carrying four men pulled up to the scene.
One of the occupants of the vehicle allegedly brandished a firearm and shot Respress multiple times in the torso. An off-duty Atlanta police officer discovered Respress on the ground after the vehicle sped away. He succumbed to his injuries at the scene, just outside the front doors of the gas station. During the altercation, another individual who had been arguing with Respress was grazed by a bullet, sustaining non-life-threatening injuries.
More than two weeks after the shooting, a breakthrough in the case came with the arrest of a suspect. On October 19, 2016, Dominique Jackson was taken into custody and charged in connection with the death of William Respress Jr. Jackson faced charges of one count of murder and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was subsequently booked into the Fulton County jail. The investigation suggested that Jackson was one of the four men in the car that arrived at the gas station during the initial argument.
