On a Saturday night in November 2014, a 22-year-old man named Demetrius Davis was fatally shot in Atlanta. The incident occurred outside the JVC Grocery on McDaniel Street, a location known to police for previous trouble. Davis sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators believed the shooting was not a random act and that Davis was the intended target.
The investigation into Demetrius Davis's death initially went cold.
However, about nine months later, Atlanta Police released surveillance video to the public in an effort to generate new leads. The video footage showed five cars arriving at the grocery store simultaneously, appearing to block a side street. A man was seen exiting one of the vehicles, retrieving an assault rifle from the trunk, and then moving out of the camera's view in Davis's direction. The same individual then reappeared on camera, firing the rifle multiple times before the vehicles fled the scene.
A significant breakthrough in the case came with the identification of a suspect, Terry Brown. Court documents revealed that Brown's alleged motive was connected to gang retaliation. The government alleged that Brown was a member of the Nine Trey Gangsters and that the shooting was in response to the rumored murder of a fellow gang member by a rival gang. A cooperating witness identified approximately 15 individuals who were present at the scene of Davis's murder and specifically named Brown as the shooter.
Further investigation, utilizing geofence warrant technology, placed a device associated with Terry Brown's Google account at the location of the murder on the night of November 22, 2014. In February 2020, Terry Brown was named as a defendant in a second superseding indictment, facing charges that include one count of RICO Conspiracy and one count of VICAR murder. His trial was scheduled to take place in July 2025.
