In the autumn of 2015, the life of 30-year-old Brandon Terrell Harris, a Black man from Decatur, Alabama, was brought to a violent and tragic end. On the morning of November 13th, a call to the Morgan County E911 center regarding an unauthorized use of a vehicle led Decatur Police to a residence on Wadsworth Street Southeast. Behind the home, they discovered a car with Harris's body inside.
He had been shot multiple times with a 9mm handgun, with fatal wounds to his back and arm.
The investigation into the death of the 2004 Decatur High School graduate, remembered for his love of football, quickly uncovered a narrative of a drug transaction that had gone fatally awry. Detectives learned that Harris had been involved in the sale of what was purported to be marijuana to two individuals. The transaction soured when the buyers discovered the substance was fake.
Authorities identified the two men involved in the drug deal as Gary Lorenzo Hill Jr. and Jovan Deante Anderson. According to a witness, after realizing they had been sold fake narcotics, Hill and Anderson left for Harris's residence. Shortly thereafter, the witness reported hearing several gunshots. The duo then returned, fled the scene in their vehicle, and in a chilling phone call moments later, Hill allegedly instructed the witness to go to Harris's home and retrieve the spent shell casings, a request the witness refused.
The investigation progressed, and in June of 2016, both Gary Lorenzo Hill Jr. and Jovan Deante Anderson were indicted on capital murder charges by a Morgan County grand jury, accused of intentionally causing the death of Brandon Terrell Harris by shooting him while he was inside a vehicle. The legal proceedings that followed would ultimately determine the consequences for their alleged roles in the death of the father of three.
