In the early evening of November 24, 2015, Devron Latrell Torrance, a 27-year-old male, was a passenger in a pickup truck driving near Horne Avenue in Milledgeville, Georgia. Suddenly, the vehicle was riddled with bullets. One of the shots pierced the rear window and struck Torrance in the head. The driver, a friend of Torrance, sped away from the scene, seeking safety and help at a nearby Solo Tobacco & Food Store on Irwinton Road, where he called 911.
Emergency services arrived and transported Torrance to Oconee Regional Medical Center, but his injury was too severe, and he died about an hour later.
The Baldwin County Sheriff's Office, along with the Milledgeville Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, immediately launched an investigation. Authorities quickly suspected the shooting was gang-related and potentially an act of retaliation for a previous dispute. Investigators found spent bullet casings on Horne Avenue, confirming the location of the shooting. The investigation led them to a house at 341 Horne Avenue, from where the shots were believed to have been fired.
Within days, arrests were made in connection with the fatal shooting. Initially, Tristan Isaiah Conner, 18, and Haylee Nicole Farmer, 20, who were inside the home at the time of the incident, were arrested and charged with making false statements to investigators. The investigation then identified three more suspects believed to be directly involved in the shooting. Montagus Travonn Davis, 19, and two juveniles, Cameron Keith Brooks, 17, and Antonio Middlebrooks, 15, were arrested. All three were associated with a local gang. They were initially charged with aggravated assault, with those charges later upgraded to include murder and violations of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.
In January 2016, a grand jury indicted Brooks, Davis, and Middlebrooks on charges of murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and two counts each of the Violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act. As the cases proceeded through the legal system, Cameron Brooks eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 40 years, with the first 20 to be served in prison. During the trial of the remaining two defendants in April 2017, Montagus Davis and Antonio Middlebrooks took a plea deal. They pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and violation of the Georgia Street Gang Prevention Act. Both were sentenced to 20 years, with five years to be served in confinement.
