Jamar Michael Phillips, a 17-year-old male, was killed during a violent confrontation along East Oglethorpe Boulevard in Albany, Georgia, during the early morning hours of August 27, 2026. Albany police were dispatched to the area at about 2:45 a.m. after reports of gunfire. Phillips was found critically wounded near the Shackleford Shopping Center area, and Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler later said he had been shot multiple times and was pronounced dead at approximately 3:45 a.m. A second person was also shot during the incident and was transported to Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, where he was reported to be in stable condition.
As investigators reconstructed what happened, the shooting appeared to be the culmination of a lengthy and chaotic confrontation at a gas station on East Oglethorpe Boulevard. Police incident reports described a physical struggle that witnesses estimated lasted anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes. Witnesses gave accounts of several people fighting around a vehicle near a gas pump, with Phillips being struck, pulled from or struggling around the vehicle, and at one point beaten with a firearm. One witness reported seeing blood running down the side of Phillips' neck as the confrontation continued.
The scene became even more dangerous when additional vehicles arrived, including a white Dodge Charger and a dark Hyundai or Kia described by witnesses. Gunfire was then exchanged among people at the scene. Investigators were told that a gun belonging to Phillips was taken during the struggle, while another witness reported seeing someone associated with the Dodge Charger take an unidentified item from Phillips before returning to the vehicle. Police reports initially presented a complicated picture in which Phillips appeared to have been assaulted while someone tried to take a vehicle.
The Albany Police Department later provided a significant update to that account. Police Chief Michael Persley told WALB that investigators believed Phillips had been attempting an armed robbery and that he was ultimately shot with his own firearm during a struggle inside a vehicle. Authorities said the confrontation involved a dispute over both the vehicle and the gun. Phillips was shot while inside the vehicle and subsequently fell from it. Because witness statements described several stages of fighting, attempted robbery activity and an exchange of gunfire involving multiple people, investigators continued working to determine the precise actions of everyone involved.
Later on the day of the shooting, police identified 22-year-old Marquis De'Sean Green as a person of interest. Green subsequently turned himself in to authorities and was arrested in connection with the case. Albany police charged him with felony murder, armed robbery, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and two counts of kidnapping. The charges are accusations, and the available reporting does not indicate that Green has been convicted in connection with Phillips' death.
There was also early confusion involving a vehicle officers saw leaving the area shortly after the shooting. Police attempted to stop that vehicle, and a pursuit followed when the driver did not immediately stop. Three men inside were taken into custody for questioning, but investigators later determined that the vehicle was not involved in Phillips' shooting. That development separated those individuals from the central homicide investigation and left Green as the publicly identified person charged in connection with the death.
Phillips' killing became one of a series of deadly shootings investigated in Albany during 2026. The Albany Police Department's Investigations Division continued handling the case after Green's arrest, while authorities sought additional information from anyone who witnessed the prolonged confrontation or the gunfire that followed. The most recent publicly available reporting located does not document a trial, plea, dismissal, or conviction for Green, leaving the criminal case unresolved in the available record.
