In the summer of July 2016, a house party on Aviator Circle in Snellville, Georgia, took a tragic turn. Amidst a gathering of approximately 100 teenagers, a dispute erupted, shattering the night with the sound of multiple gunshots. When the chaos subsided, 17-year-old Jahlah Branch, a male from Lithonia, was found with a fatal gunshot wound to the head.
The vibrant party atmosphere had transformed into a scene of a homicide investigation, with many of the young attendees scattering before law enforcement could arrive, complicating the initial search for answers.
Jahlah's father, Saviour Branch, later shared a heart-wrenching account of his son's final moments, as told to him by witnesses. He said his son, a talented athlete who had just returned from a college football camp, acted heroically, shielding two girls from the gunfire. In this selfless act, Jahlah was struck by a bullet. The investigation that followed was challenging for the Gwinnett County police, as they pieced together the events of that night with limited cooperation from the many witnesses who had fled.
Months later, the investigation led to the arrests of two individuals. In October, 19-year-old Aundre Brooks of Lithonia was taken into custody. Brooks, who had been acting as a security guard at the party, was charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct for firing his weapon in response to the initial shots. The following January, authorities arrested 16-year-old Trevais Ways of Snellville, charging him as an adult with felony murder and aggravated assault. Police determined that a dispute over a stolen cellphone allegedly prompted Ways to pull out a gun and begin shooting, instigating the fatal chain of events that ended a young life.
