In the late hours of September 11, 2019, the life of 17-year-old Savion Scales was tragically cut short in Roanoke, Virginia. The Black / African American male was discovered inside a car at the intersection of 13th Street Southwest and Campbell Avenue Southwest, suffering from a fatal gunshot wound to his chest. Despite the immediate response of Roanoke Fire-EMS, Scales was pronounced dead at the scene. The incident, marked by the sound of multiple gunshots reported by neighbors, sent ripples of grief and concern through the local community.
The investigation into the homicide swiftly identified two teenage suspects. The day after the shooting, on September 12, 2019, Roanoke Police arrested 18-year-old Cinque Fayette. He was subsequently charged with second-degree murder. The search for a second suspect, 17-year-old Ozmeik Clements, was initiated, with police seeking the public's help in locating him on charges of first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of murder.
On October 1, 2019, Ozmeik Clements turned himself in to the Roanoke Police Department and was taken into custody without incident. In November of that year, a grand jury indicted Clements on a first-degree murder charge, and his case was transferred from juvenile to adult court.
Cinque Fayette eventually pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. In January 2022, one of the two men charged in connection with the killing entered a guilty plea. The legal proceedings brought a measure of closure to a case that highlighted the devastating impact of gun violence on young lives within the community.
