On the night of January 23, 2022, a dispute that began with a verbal altercation inside the Fab City Cigar Lounge in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, tragically escalated, resulting in the death of 36-year-old Qudos Kafo, a Black / African American male. The initial disagreement involved members of another man's family and Kafo. The man, later identified as Trequan Baker, arrived at the lounge after being called by a family member and confronted Kafo.
Although lounge security intervened and
momentarily de-escalated the situation, the tension lingered. Video surveillance from the establishment showed Baker going to his vehicle to retrieve a. 40 caliber semi-automatic pistol, chambering a round. When a physical fight broke out between members of Baker's family and Kafo outside the lounge, Baker ran into the street and fired a single shot at point-blank range, striking Kafo in the abdomen. Emergency services transported Kafo to Rhode Island Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Another man was also injured in the shooting.
Trequan Baker, a 31-year-old from Providence, was identified as the shooter and subsequently arrested. In December 2023, following an eight-day jury trial, Baker was found guilty of second-degree murder, discharging a firearm while in the commission of a crime of violence resulting in death, possession of a firearm without a license, and conspiracy to carry a pistol without a license. In April 2024, a judge sentenced Baker to 60 years in prison, followed by a consecutive life sentence for the murder of Qudos Kafo.
