In the warm summer night of July 27, 2025, in Columbus, Georgia, the life of 17-year-old Keiauna McFadden was tragically cut short. A Black female, McFadden was attending a gathering on Juniper Avenue when gunfire erupted in the early morning hours. She was struck in the back of the head and critically injured. Another 18-year-old woman was also shot multiple times but was in stable condition after treatment.
Emergency services found McFadden at the scene and she was airlifted to Grady
Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. Doctors informed her family that she had no chance of survival. A few days later, on August 1, 2025, she was pronounced dead. At the time of the shooting, McFadden was nearly five months pregnant with a son she had named Za'Mauri Kasai McFadden. Tragically, the baby was stillborn. The loss of both mother and child left their family heartbroken.
The Columbus Police Department's Violent Crimes Unit immediately began an investigation into the double homicide. For months, they pursued leads, and their efforts culminated on October 2, 2025, with the issuing of warrants for three suspects. The following day, the police announced the arrests of 21-year-old Javon Seals, 18-year-old Deandre Scranton, and 21-year-old Landon Owens. Seals and Scranton were taken into custody in Columbus, while Owens was apprehended in Troup County and extradited back to Columbus.
All three men face a string of serious charges, including murder, feticide, four counts of aggravated assault, drive-by shooting, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. Deandre Scranton faces an additional charge of vehicle theft. The arrests brought a measure of hope for justice to a family and community mourning a senseless act of gun violence that claimed the lives of a young mother-to-be and her unborn child on what would have been the beginning of her senior year of high school.
