Natasha Natalie Morgan, a 19-year-old Black female, passed away unexpectedly on Friday, August 21, 2020, in Lewiston, Maine. A certified nursing assistant with aspirations of becoming a midwife, she was the mother of a one-year-old daughter. Her life was cut short in an act of domestic violence.
On that Friday afternoon, Morgan was at her mother's home on Scribner Boulevard in Lewiston. She was there to pick up her daughter from the child's father, 26-year-old Jaquile Coleman.
The day before, Morgan had ended her relationship with Coleman. An argument ensued between the former couple in the driveway. As Morgan walked away from him, Coleman fired a gun multiple times, striking her. The shooting occurred just feet away from a vehicle where Morgan's mother and her infant daughter were seated.
Following the shooting, Coleman fled the scene in a car. A manhunt was initiated, and he was considered armed and dangerous. A few days later, on August 26, law enforcement, including the U.S. Marshals Service, located and arrested Coleman in Mississippi without incident. He was extradited back to Maine to face charges.
Jaquile Coleman was charged with the intentional murder of Natasha Morgan. During his trial, Morgan's mother testified as an eyewitness, recounting that she saw Coleman shoot her daughter. Evidence was also presented that Morgan had been afraid of Coleman and had even established a "safe word" with a friend to signal if she needed police assistance. In November 2022, a jury found Coleman guilty of murder. He was subsequently sentenced to 47 years in prison. Coleman later appealed his conviction, but the Maine Supreme Judicial Court upheld the verdict in May 2024.
