In the spring of 2018, the life of 18-year-old DaRonte Herbert was tragically cut short in Dyersburg, Tennessee. On April 19, 2018, Herbert was discovered shot and killed on Slaughter Pen Road. His death was quickly ruled a homicide, leaving his family and the community grappling with a senseless act of violence. His mother, Fameka Herbert, remembered her son as a young man of God who had a passion for dancing and rapping, someone who was always the life of the party.
For years, the investigation into DaRonte's murder continued, with his family holding onto hope for justice. A significant breakthrough in the case came in June 2022, when a Dyer County Grand Jury handed down a secret indictment for two men, Deshawn Gorman and Demauzay Jackson, on charges of first-degree murder. It was revealed that the two men had lured Herbert to Bean Mill Road where they then murdered him.
Demauzay Jackson was arrested on June 13, 2022, the same day the indictment was issued. The second suspect, Deshawn Gorman, who was 25 years old at the time, was apprehended on July 14, 2022, in Kansas City, Missouri, by the U.S. Marshals' Midwest Violent Fugitive Task Force. Gorman was found to be in possession of a gun at the time of his arrest and was subsequently extradited back to Dyer County to face the charges against him.
The legal proceedings culminated in November 2025, when both Deshawn Gorman and Demauzay Jackson were found guilty of first-degree murder in connection with the death of DaRonte Herbert. Following the guilty verdict, Circuit Court Judge Mark Hayes sentenced both men to life in prison. They will be eligible for the possibility of parole after serving 51 years. The convictions brought a measure of closure to a case that had haunted the community for over seven years, though the pain of DaRonte's loss remains with his loved ones.
