In the early morning hours of April 16, 2016, the life of 19-year-old Allen C. Basham Jr. was cut short in a barrage of gunfire on the west side of Erie, Pennsylvania. A lifelong resident of Erie, Allen was a young man with a love for his family, music, and fashion, known for a beautiful smile he readily shared with those around him. He had aspirations of becoming a rapper and was a fan of the San Diego Chargers.
The night he died, a chaotic scene unfolded in the 1100 block of West 26th Street, where a house party was taking place. A dispute escalated into a shootout involving multiple individuals, and when police responded to reports of gunshots, they found Allen in a business parking lot, having sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the chest. The investigation that followed painted a picture of a violent exchange, with detectives recovering 44 spent shell casings from at least three different firearms at the scene, which spanned two square blocks.
The investigation led to the arrests of three men in connection with the fatal shooting. Marquis P. Knight, 27 at the time, was identified by witnesses as having fired at Basham and was subsequently charged with criminal homicide and first-degree murder. Ballistic evidence played a crucial role in the case against him; a. 40-caliber shell casing found in Knight's bedroom was determined to have been fired from the same weapon as several casings discovered at the crime scene. Another man, Ashton Pullium-Jones, then 24, faced charges after his fingerprints were found on a 9mm Glock believed to have been used to fire 25 shots into the neighborhood during the incident. A third individual, 30-year-old Jamaine J. Gambill Sr., was charged with firing a gun from the window of a nearby home during the shootout.
During a preliminary hearing in November 2016, all three men were ordered to stand trial. Witnesses testified to seeing Knight shooting in the direction of Basham. However, the complexity of the event was highlighted when a defense attorney for Knight raised the claim of self-defense, suggesting that Basham had fired his weapon first. This assertion was supported by testimony from an investigator who acknowledged that one witness had indicated Basham initiated the gunfire. It was also noted that the rental car Knight was driving had been struck by bullets. Despite this claim, the prosecution argued that Knight had the intent to pursue and fatally shoot Basham, escalating a pre-existing conflict between the two.
