In the late hours of a warm August night in Macon, Georgia, the life of 29-year-old Brandon Harris was tragically cut short. On August 29, 2015, just before 11:30 p.m., Harris, a male visitor from Chicago, was outside the Red Carpet Inn on Jeffersonville Road when gunfire erupted. He had been walking with another man, Raleigh Jackson, from a restaurant towards a nearby gas station.
In the immediate aftermath, both men were found to have been shot.
Harris was rushed to Coliseum Hospital, but his injuries proved to be fatal, and he was pronounced dead. The other man, 27-year-old Raleigh Jackson of Macon, was taken to the Medical Center Navicent Health and was listed in stable condition. Initially, investigators were told that an unidentified man had shot both Harris and Jackson. However, the narrative of the incident would soon take a dramatic turn.
Following an investigation by the Bibb County Sheriff's Office, the man who was initially considered a second victim became the primary suspect. On September 8, 2015, Raleigh Jackson was arrested and charged with the murder of Brandon Harris. The day after his arrest, Jackson appeared before a Bibb County magistrate judge and was denied bond.
