In the early morning hours of October 6, 2024, Malcolm Isiah Nowlin, a 26-year-old man, was working as a security guard at the Dijlah Restaurant and Hookah Lounge on Butler Street in Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville neighborhood. Just before 4:30 a.m., an altercation occurred after a man was denied entry because the establishment was closing for the night. Following the argument, the man retrieved a gun from his car and opened fire. Nowlin was struck by the gunfire and was rushed to a local hospital. He fought for his life for two days before succumbing to a gunshot wound to the head on October 8, 2024.
The investigation into Nowlin's death quickly led police to identify a suspect, 24-year-old Eric O. Sudduth-Jones II. Witnesses reported that Sudduth-Jones had been arguing with Nowlin and had threatened him before the shooting. Surveillance footage from a nearby restaurant reportedly captured Sudduth-Jones walking to his car to get a gun and then shooting at the lounge. Police recovered 19 spent 9mm shells from the scene. Authorities also revealed that Sudduth-Jones had been involved in a police chase earlier that same night after failing to pull over for a traffic stop. After the shooting, he allegedly fled the scene and set his car on fire under a bridge in East Pittsburgh.
On October 14, 2024, Eric Sudduth-Jones was arrested in Wilkinsburg by Pittsburgh Police and the U.S. Marshals Western Pennsylvania Fugitive Task Force. He was charged with criminal homicide and taken to the Allegheny County Jail. Nowlin's family expressed their gratitude for the swift arrest and their desire to see justice served to the fullest extent of the law. The trial for Sudduth-Jones was initially scheduled but was later postponed to November. In the wake of his death, Nowlin's family established the Malcolm Isaiah Nowlin Legacy Foundation to provide resources for those experiencing grief and loss. He was remembered by loved ones as a Duquesne University graduate with ambitions of opening his own business and a passion for comedy. A fundraiser was held at Silky's Pub, another establishment where Nowlin worked, to support his family.
