In the winter of 2020, the life of 23-year-old Darryan Motley, a male resident of Montgomery, Alabama, was cut short by gun violence. On the evening of December 26th, Motley was one of four people shot in a quadruple shooting. He was the sole fatality in the incident. News reports from the time indicated that a suspect was arrested in connection with the shooting, though the identity of the individual taken into custody and the specifics of the charges have not been publicly detailed in
available online sources.
Complicating the narrative of his life and death is the strong possibility that Darryan Motley was the same person as Darien Motley, a man who had been a suspect in a prior, unrelated homicide. This connection stems from a December 2023 report on cold cases, which mentioned that a Darien Motley, also in his early twenties, was a person of interest in the November 24, 2018, shooting death of Steven White Jr. in Montgomery. The report further stated that this Darien Motley was later murdered in an unrelated case, a description that aligns with the timing and circumstances of Darryan Motley's death. However, a definitive online source confirming that Darryan and Darien were the same person is not available.
The investigation into Darryan Motley's death is part of the broader effort by Montgomery law enforcement to address violent crime in the city. While an arrest was reported shortly after the 2020 shooting, the subsequent legal proceedings and the current status of the case against the unnamed suspect are not readily available in public online records. The circumstances of his death underscore the ongoing challenges of gun violence in the community. His passing is remembered by his family and friends, as evidenced by his obituary and online memorial pages.
