On a cold winter evening in Des Moines, Iowa, the life of 15-year-old White male Thayne Joseph Wright was tragically cut short. On Thursday, January 30, 2020, Thayne was visiting friends at a duplex in the 600 block of East Hackley Avenue. It was there that he, along with two brothers, 19-year-old Devonte Swanks and 16-year-old Malachi Swanks, were found deceased with gunshot wounds. First responders made the grim discovery at approximately 11:20 p.m.
after receiving reports of a shooting in the area.
The investigation into the triple homicide quickly gained momentum. Des Moines police identified and arrested two suspects in connection with the killings, 19-year-old Emmanuel Totaye Jr. and 20-year-old Daishawn Gills. According to police, witnesses placed both Totaye Jr. and Gills with the victims at different times leading up to the murders. One witness reported seeing Gills with a long gun shortly before the incident. Further evidence was uncovered when Gills was found in possession of property belonging to the victims. A search of Totaye Jr.'s residence also yielded items that were confirmed to be missing from the home on East Hackley Avenue.
A third suspect, 17-year-old Leontreal Jones, was later apprehended in Peoria, Illinois, on robbery warrants. He was extradited back to Iowa to face charges of first-degree murder in the deaths of Thayne Wright and the Swanks brothers. The investigation revealed that the motive for the killings was robbery. Both Totaye Jr. and Gills were charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree robbery. They were also implicated in a separate robbery that occurred on the same day. In June 2022, Daishawn Gills was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, while Emmanuel Totaye received a sentence that would keep him incarcerated for over 100 years.
