Jalon Gallery was a 17-year-old from Mobile, Alabama, remembered by those who knew him as caring and funny. A student at John L. Leflore High School, Jalon also worked at a local business called Hart’s. His life was cut short in the summer of 2021, leaving a community in search of answers. He was a Black male.
On the afternoon of July 20, 2021, a city employee made a grim discovery in an abandoned field within Mobile’s RV Taylor community.
At approximately 4:18 p.m., Mobile Police officers responded to a call about a person down in the 1700 block of Sumner Drive. There, they found Jalon Gallery, who had died from a gunshot wound to the head. The Mobile Police Department immediately opened a homicide investigation.
The case saw a significant development less than a month later. On August 9, 2021, an 18-year-old from Escatawpa, Mississippi, named Kolby Johnlee Street, turned himself in to authorities at the Mobile County Metro Jail. He was arrested and subsequently charged with the murder of Jalon Gallery.
As the case against Street moved through the legal system, his mental competency became a central issue. He was eventually released on bond while awaiting placement at the Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility for psychiatric treatment, which was intended to help him become competent to stand trial. However, in March 2024, while out on bond, Street was arrested by police in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on an unrelated burglary charge. A judge then revoked his bond.
The case reached its conclusion when Kolby Street pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter in connection with Jalon Gallery’s shooting death. Following his plea, a judge sentenced Street to serve 20 years in prison. As of May 2024, the case is considered closed.
