Colvin Germany, a 39-year-old Black man, was killed in Shreveport, Louisiana, after a late-night confrontation that began as a private argument and ended in gunfire on Theo Street in the Mooretown/Hollywood Heights area. In the hours leading up to the shooting, Germany and his fiancée, Samantha Phill, had been out drinking and using marijuana. When Phill saw messages on Germany’s phone from a woman he had met on Tinder, the couple argued, and once they returned home, Phill ordered him to
leave. Germany started packing, and while Phill stepped away to a nearby store, she later realized her tax refund money—about $3,400—was missing.
Frustrated and upset, Phill sought help from family, and the dispute widened beyond the couple. She and others went to Clarke Boulevard, where Phill’s cousin Dana Jamariyaa Combs was with several people, including his brother Cortez and Corey “JoJo” Holden. Phill told Combs not to get involved, but Combs later claimed she appeared injured and told him Germany had attacked her and taken her money. Not long after, Combs and the others drove to Theo Street and waited across from the house. Phill asked them to leave; they stayed nearby. Germany then arrived to collect the remaining belongings he’d left behind, loading plastic totes into his red Chevy Cruze, keeping his focus on leaving rather than arguing.
As Germany backed up to go, Combs walked to the driver’s door, drew a handgun, and fired multiple shots through the window. Witness testimony described Combs shouting at Germany to return Phill’s money as he fired. Germany was hit four times, including a fatal wound under his left ear; injuries to his hands were consistent with his hands being on the steering wheel when he was shot. Police initially suspected a hit-and-run because Germany’s body was in the street, but they soon discovered the gunshot wounds. The Cruze was later found a few blocks away near Impact Church on Broadway Avenue, with the driver’s window shot out. No gun was recovered from the car, from the other vehicle, or from locations investigators searched.
Combs was identified as the shooter, arrested, and prosecuted for second degree murder. At trial, he admitted firing through the window but claimed self-defense, testifying that Germany reached for a gun and pointed it at him. The jury rejected that account and convicted Combs of second degree murder. In March 2024, he received the mandatory life sentence without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. Prosecutors also presented evidence that, after his arrest, Combs pressured and threatened witnesses—sending messages urging people involved not to testify or to recant.
Combs appealed, but the Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed the conviction and life sentence in a decision rendered April 9, 2025, leaving the verdict intact. The court’s account of the evidence emphasized the close-range nature of the shooting through the car window, the forensic findings consistent with Germany’s hands being on the wheel when struck, and Combs’s own admissions about firing the weapon and later trying to influence testimony from inside jail.
