In the late afternoon of April 22, 2023, a violent encounter at a Decatur, Georgia intersection claimed the life of 39-year-old Lewis Eric Harmon, a Black/African American male. Harmon was inside his red Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck at the intersection of Hooper Street and Hillside Avenue when a dark-colored SUV pulled up alongside him. An argument erupted between occupants of both vehicles, quickly escalating the situation.
According to witnesses, both Harmon and a man from the SUV
exited their vehicles and continued the verbal altercation. The man from the SUV then returned to his vehicle, retrieved a gun, and fired at Harmon. Wounded, Harmon attempted to get back into his truck but collapsed. When DeKalb County police officers arrived at the scene around 5:45 p.m., they found Harmon unresponsive inside his truck. He was pronounced dead at the scene by fire crews who arrived shortly after.
The investigation into the shooting led authorities to identify 36-year-old Tommie Lee Salad as the primary suspect. More than a month after the fatal incident, on May 24, 2023, a SWAT unit located and arrested Salad at an apartment on Walden Walk Circle in Redan. He was taken into custody without incident and booked into the DeKalb County jail.
Salad faces charges of malice murder in connection with Lewis Harmon's death. Court records show he has also been indicted on two counts of aggravated assault and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Public records indicate that Salad has a prior criminal history that includes convictions for violent crimes and drug charges. He remains in the DeKalb County jail, being held without bond.
