On December 12, 2015, in Dothan, Alabama, 33-year-old James Lee Gillard Jr., a Black male, was fatally shot. The incident occurred during a confrontation with another individual. Born in Detroit, Michigan, on December 3, 1982, Gillard had been raised by his grandmother who adopted him at a young age. He had earned his GED in 2007 and had obtained certificates in several vocational fields.
At the time of his death, he had recently enrolled at Wallace Community College with plans to begin his studies in the spring of 2016.
Following the shooting, authorities arrested 24-year-old Andrea Flagg and charged him with murder in connection with Gillard's death. The investigation pointed to Flagg as the individual involved in the confrontation that led to the fatal shooting. A remembrance service for Gillard was held on December 18, 2015, at a local mortuary in Dothan.
In a later turn of events, in July 2019, Andrea Flagg was mistakenly released from prison due to a clerical error. A search was initiated, and he was eventually recaptured in Dothan by local police and federal marshals.
