On the late evening of May 13, 2023, the sound of gunshots shattered the night on County Street in Fall River, Massachusetts. When police responded to multiple 911 calls just before 10:45 p.m., they discovered a young Black man, 23-year-old Diamonte Odom, lying on the sidewalk. He had sustained a life-threatening gunshot wound to his face. First responders rushed Odom to a hospital in nearby Rhode Island, but his injuries were too severe, and he was pronounced dead in the early morning hours of
May 14.
The death of Diamonte Odom prompted a lengthy homicide investigation by Fall River Police and Massachusetts State Police detectives. For months, the case remained unsolved, leaving a community searching for answers. The breakthrough came after a long-term grand jury investigation, which resulted in the indictments of four Fall River men in connection with Odom's murder. The indictments painted a picture of a complex case involving multiple individuals in various alleged roles.
Two men, 26-year-old Tajon Saxon and 26-year-old Quanif Johnson, faced the most serious charges of murder and illegal firearm possession. While Johnson was already in custody in Rhode Island for his connection to a separate homicide, Saxon remained at large. Authorities launched an intensive manhunt for him, adding him to the Massachusetts State Police's Most Wanted List and warning the public that he should be considered armed and dangerous. Saxon was also wanted in connection to a 2021 double homicide in Fall River. Two other men were implicated in the case: 25-year-old Dioni Tavarez-Leonirio was charged with being an accessory to murder after the fact, and 18-year-old Devin Alves faced drug and ammunition trafficking charges connected to the investigation.
After nearly a year on the run, the search for Tajon Saxon came to an end. Investigators tracked him through multiple states before locating him in an apartment in the nearby city of New Bedford. He was found hiding in a bathroom and taken into custody without incident. Saxon was subsequently arraigned on murder charges for the death of Diamonte Odom and was held without bail.
