On the night of April 12, 2025, Montine Wiley Jr., a 27-year-old African American man, was working as a security guard at a crowded private event held at the Green Door Distilling Co. in Kalamazoo, Michigan. An advocate for peace who had turned his life around from a troubled youth to become a mentor against gun violence, Wiley was ironically placed in a position that would cost him his life. Tensions flared when a patron was denied entry to the venue. Wiley, in his capacity as security, was attempting to de-escalate the situation by leading the individual away from the crowd and into the parking lot. His father and uncle, who were also present that night, heard a single gunshot. The shot came from the man Wiley was escorting, who had pulled out a firearm. Wiley collapsed in his uncle's arms with a gunshot wound to his chest and was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The shooting sent shockwaves through the Kalamazoo community, which knew Wiley as a business owner and a dedicated advocate who worked to steer at-risk youth away from the very violence that claimed him. He was a father to a son and had another child on the way with his fiancée. In the days following his death, the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety began a thorough investigation, seeking help from the public to identify the individuals involved in the altercation that occurred amidst a crowd of over 200 people.
The investigation quickly led to the identification and arrest of three suspects. The alleged shooter was identified as 18-year-old Kaiden Tanner Cole of Battle Creek. Authorities stated that widespread media coverage and social media attention created mounting pressure that led Cole to turn himself in. He was charged with open murder, felony firearm, and carrying a concealed weapon and was denied bond. A second suspect, 22-year-old Damonte Jenkins-Gooden, was also arrested and charged with tampering with evidence and felony firearm. It is alleged that after Wiley was shot, Jenkins-Gooden took the security guard's gun from the scene.
A third individual, 20-year-old Oscar David Wygant, was later arrested and charged with Accessory After the Fact to a Felony. Wygant allegedly drove both Cole and Jenkins-Gooden away from the scene of the shooting. According to court records, Wygant later came forward to police, stating that Cole had admitted to shooting someone on the car ride home. The case against the three men is proceeding through the court system as the community continues to mourn the loss of a man who had dedicated his life to preventing such tragedies.
