On a Saturday evening in Waterloo, Iowa, on November 23, 2019, 19-year-old Marquavion Deshawn Brown, a Black/African American male, was sitting in a parked car with a friend. It was just before 6 p.m. in an alley behind an apartment complex in the 200 block of Madison Street. The scene was shattered when an assailant on foot opened fire on the vehicle.
The gunfire struck both Brown and his companion, 21-year-old Quintorey Farshawn D'Quan Kemp.
First responders rushed to the chaotic scene, where they found the two men suffering from gunshot wounds near a car with a shattered rear passenger window. Both Brown and Kemp were transported to UnityPoint-Allen Hospital. Tragically, Marquavion Brown was pronounced dead from his injuries. Kemp, who was also seriously injured, was later transferred to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City for further treatment.
The aftermath of the shooting was filled with grief and fear, as a crowd gathered at the hospital. A commotion, initially feared to be more gunshots, was later determined by police to have likely been a speeding car hitting a curb. In the days that followed, Waterloo Police confirmed Brown's identity as the deceased victim and continued to investigate the homicide. Despite their efforts, which included executing a search warrant at a nearby apartment shortly after the incident, no arrests have been made in connection with the murder of Marquavion Brown. The case remains an active and unsolved investigation. Authorities have offered a reward for any information that leads to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for his death.
