Dewayne Brown, a 43-year-old Black male from Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, was killed late on April 17, 2024, after a violent encounter that began inside a Harrisburg restaurant and ended on the street. Police were called around 11:45 p.m. to the area of Evergreen and Thompson Streets in Harrisburg's Allison Hill neighborhood for reports of shots fired and a person struck. When officers arrived, Brown was found with gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Dauphin County Coroner's Office later determined that he died from gunshot wounds to the body and ruled his death a homicide.
Investigators later described the shooting as the end of a robbery and beating that started earlier that night at USA Fried Chicken near 13th and Derry Streets. Witness accounts and court coverage said Brown had been waiting for food when Erick Boone and Marcus Stultz attacked him. Boone later admitted during trial testimony that he and Stultz fought Brown, took him to the ground, continued beating him, searched through his pockets, and stole his cellphones. Prosecutors argued that Brown was drunk, badly beaten, and defenseless before the fatal shooting.
About 20 minutes after the restaurant assault, Brown encountered the men again near Evergreen Street. Boone claimed at trial that he fired in self-defense because he feared Brown had a weapon, but prosecutors pushed back on that explanation, arguing that Brown had already been beaten and robbed and that the shooting was not justified. Trial testimony included a witness who identified Boone as the shooter and described the attack as senseless.
Police first arrested Marcus David Stultz of Harrisburg on April 19, 2024. He was charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery, and conspiracy to commit robbery. Authorities said his charges stemmed from his alleged involvement in the April 17 killing near Evergreen and Thompson Streets. Reports also described Stultz as a convicted felon, and later court coverage said he was accused of taking part in the beating, robbery, and killing.
Erick Jamal Boone was arrested on April 23, 2024, as the second suspect in the case. He was charged with murder, criminal conspiracy to commit murder, robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, person not to possess a firearm, and carrying a firearm without a license. Police said he was involved in the same homicide, and his arrest followed the earlier arrest of Stultz.
Boone's case went to trial in Dauphin County in November 2025. During the proceedings, Boone acknowledged participating in the restaurant beating and robbery but maintained that the shooting was self-defense. Jurors rejected that claim and convicted him of first-degree murder, robbery, conspiracy, and intimidation of a witness in Brown's death. The conviction marked a major resolution in the case against Boone, while reporting on Stultz indicated that he remained separately accused in the same robbery-murder.
