In the early hours of May 5, 2022, Marquise Harris, a 47-year-old male, was shot and killed in Denver. The Denver Police Department responded to a report of a shooting in the 8800 block of East 12th at 9:08 a.m. Upon arrival, they found Mr. Harris, who was then transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The Denver Office of the Medical Examiner later confirmed the cause of death as a gunshot wound and ruled the manner of death a homicide.
For a period, the
investigation into Marquise Harris's death seemed to stall, with no arrests made or suspect information released to the public. The case was complicated by the fact that Marquise and his brother, Dedrick Harris, had a pending lawsuit against the Denver Police Department stemming from separate arrests they alleged were improper. This led to concerns from his brother about the pace and communication of the investigation. The department, however, maintained its commitment to solving the homicide.
Later developments in the case implicated two individuals, Raphfeal Myrick and Justin Winston, in the murder of Marquise Harris and another man, Maurice Pulley. A significant breakthrough came when Raphfeal Myrick entered into a plea agreement. As part of this agreement, Myrick agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and testify against Justin Winston. In his testimony, Myrick detailed the events of the shooting, stating that after he fired a shot that missed Harris, Justin Winston used an assault rifle to shoot and kill him. This testimony identified Justin Winston as the primary suspect in the murder of Marquise Harris.
