In the early morning hours of Tuesday, November 12, 2019, the body of 25-year-old Jermiquec Goings was discovered in the front yard of a residence on Crestwood Street in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He had been fatally shot. Goings, who was born in Wurzburg, Germany, and had graduated from Belaire High School in 2012, was pronounced dead at the scene from apparent gunshot wounds.
Investigators with the Baton Rouge Police Department quickly determined that the shooting was not a random act of
violence. Evidence suggested that the incident was connected to drug activity. An examination of Goings' cell phone records revealed a conversation with a man named Bono Kollie, arranging a marijuana deal for the preceding day. This discovery would prove to be a pivotal point in the investigation, leading detectives to unravel the events that culminated in Goings' death.
According to police reports, Kollie confessed to arranging the drug transaction. He informed detectives that he had picked up two other individuals, Tyler Westmore and Darnell Mackyeon, who also intended to purchase drugs. The trio then drove to Goings' home on Crestwood Street. Upon their arrival, Goings approached their vehicle. Kollie instructed him to first sell to the men in the backseat. As Goings moved toward the rear of the car, Westmore allegedly armed himself with a rifle that was inside the vehicle, exited the car, and a confrontation ensued.
Kollie reported hearing gunshots and saw Westmore return to the vehicle. Westmore claimed that Goings had brandished a weapon, prompting him to open fire. However, Kollie could not confirm seeing a weapon in Goings' possession. As Goings was leaving, he dropped some marijuana, which Westmore reportedly picked up before getting back in the car. Following the shooting, Kollie stated that Westmore and Mackyeon kept his rifle and instructed him to report it as stolen. Through the use of phone records and witness identifications, authorities were able to identify and apprehend the three suspects.
Bono Kollie, then 24, was the first to be arrested, taken into custody by the Louisiana Fugitive Task Force in Reserve. Subsequently, Tyler Westmore, 22, and Darnell Mackyeon, 20, were also arrested. All three men were charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of Jermiquec Goings. The arrests brought a swift, though not final, resolution to a case that had begun with a tragic discovery on a quiet residential street.
