In the early morning hours of December 27, 2015, a dispute that began inside a downtown Burlington, Vermont lounge spilled out into the street and ended in gunfire. Odafemi Adedapo, a 28-year-old Black / African American man from New York City, was shot multiple times on the sidewalk in front of 187 Church Street. The sound of gunshots alerted nearby Burlington Police officers, who responded in less than a minute to find Adedapo without a pulse.
They immediately began administering CPR, and he was rushed to the UVM Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The investigation into Adedapo's death quickly pointed to an argument that had taken place at the Zen Lounge shortly before the shooting. Witnesses reported that Adedapo had been in a dispute with at least one other male. This altercation was later described as being over a woman. Police identified 24-year-old Chavis Murphy as the suspect in the shooting. He was arrested days later in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Following his arrest, Chavis Murphy was charged with the murder of Odafemi Adedapo. He pleaded not guilty, and the case went to trial. In February 2018, a jury found Murphy guilty of second-degree murder. Despite his lawyer's arguments that there was insufficient evidence and Murphy's own insistence of his innocence, he was sentenced in January 2019 to 20 years to life in prison. Murphy's legal team filed an appeal, but the Vermont Supreme Court later affirmed the conviction.
