On a summer evening in Savannah, Georgia, the life of 29-year-old Arkeen Abron was tragically cut short. On July 18, 2014, Abron was in a truck with two other individuals on the 1200 block of East Seiler Avenue. An altercation escalated into gunfire, and when police arrived, they found Abron and another man, 37-year-old Showkey Barnes, suffering from gunshot wounds. Both men were rushed to a local hospital, where Arkeen Abron was pronounced dead.
Barnes survived the shooting but sustained serious injuries.
The Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department’s Violent Crimes detectives quickly launched a homicide investigation. Their efforts soon focused on a suspect: 38-year-old Leonardo Lamont Anderson, also known as 'Scoochie.' Investigators publicly identified Anderson as the alleged shooter and warned that he should be considered armed and dangerous, noting his extensive criminal history. A woman named Alisha Nicole Cooper was later arrested and charged with hindering the apprehension of Anderson. The search for Anderson continued until he ultimately turned himself in at the Chatham County Detention Center.
In September 2014, a Chatham County grand jury indicted Leonardo Anderson on charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. His trial took place in June of the following year. After hearing the evidence, a jury found Anderson guilty of the felony murder of Arkeen Abron and the aggravated assault of Showkey Barnes. The court sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder, with an additional 20 consecutive years for the aggravated assault and five more years for the firearm charge.
Anderson later appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court of Georgia, arguing that errors were made during his trial. However, in October 2019, the state's highest court affirmed the original verdict, finding no reversible errors and upholding his life sentence. Nearly a decade after the fatal shooting, Leonardo Lamont Anderson died on April 20, 2024, at the age of 49.
