Friends and family remembered Clarence Howard III as a man who brought light wherever he went. The 48-year-old Black man from Dallas, Texas, known to some as "C-Note," was described as someone who could sing, tell jokes, and was always there for his loved ones. He was a father who often spoke of God and was a positive presence in the lives of those who knew him.
In the pre-dawn hours of October 25, 2022, Howard's life was cut short.
At approximately 5:00 a.m., Dallas police were called to a shooting in the 3200 block of S. Vernon Avenue in the Oak Cliff area. When officers arrived, they found Howard lying on the ground in front of an apartment. He had been fatally shot.
Investigators soon learned that Howard's death was the first in a violent crime spree. On November 2, another man, 47-year-old Lorenz Nussbaum, was shot and killed in the nearby city of Cedar Hill. Witnesses saw a man get out of a vehicle, shoot Nussbaum as he sat on his motorcycle at an intersection, and then drive away. The suspect was also linked to three aggravated robberies in Dallas: two on November 2 in North Oak Cliff and a third on November 4 at an ATM in Pleasant Grove. The break in the case came on November 5, 2022, when police conducted a traffic stop on a stolen car and arrested the driver, 29-year-old Garrett Hamilton.
Ballistic evidence from a firearm found with Hamilton connected him to Howard's murder. He was subsequently charged with the murders of both Clarence Howard and Lorenz Nussbaum, in addition to three counts of aggravated robbery. The case is now closed, as Garrett Hamilton later pleaded guilty to the murders and robberies and was sentenced for his crimes.
