On the evening of April 12, 2021, Maurice Burgess, a 36-year-old African American man, was riding his bicycle in the parking lot of the Waterstone Apartments near South Peoria Avenue in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he was senselessly shot and killed. The attack was unprovoked, a fact that would later come to light as the details of the investigation emerged.
Burgess was found on the ground near his bicycle with gunshot wounds, and no weapon was found on or near him.
The motivation behind this tragic event was a grim ambition to join a local street gang. Devon Blevins, then 29, and his codefendant, Jacob Bruce Banks, 22, were aspiring members of the Savage Boys street gang. In a misguided attempt to prove his worthiness to the group, Blevins, a passenger in a red Nissan Altima driven by Banks, opened fire on the unsuspecting Burgess, with whom they had no prior acquaintance. The act was intended to be a violent demonstration of loyalty to secure Blevins' place within the gang.
Following the shooting, witnesses reported seeing a red four-door Nissan Altima leaving the scene. Detectives utilized surveillance footage from the area which captured the vehicle, identifiable by distinct damage on its front passenger-side bumper, trailing Burgess just moments before he was shot and fell from his bicycle. This crucial piece of evidence eventually led investigators to the suspects.
In an interview with law enforcement on April 20, 2021, Devon Blevins confessed to the shooting. He initially claimed that he believed Burgess was reaching for a handgun at his waist, prompting him to position himself on the car's open window ledge and fire two shots. However, Blevins also admitted his primary motive was to make the shooting 'look good' so that Banks would approve his entry into the Savage Boys gang. Banks later testified in court that both he and Blevins were armed on the day of the murder. A federal jury convicted Blevins of first-degree murder in Indian Country, and he was sentenced to life in federal prison. Jacob Bruce Banks pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to first-degree murder in Indian Country for his role as the driver.
