On October 4, 2021, a confrontation inside a store on North Eutaw Street in Baltimore left 33-year-old Whitney Purnell critically injured. Video surveillance showed 24-year-old Jasmine Jones punching Purnell in the head, causing Purnell to fall and strike her head on an ATM. Jones then reportedly dragged Purnell by her hair. During the struggle a handgun Purnell was carrying discharged, sending a single gunshot wound into her torso.

Purnell was taken to a hospital in critical condition and died on October 14, 2021. Jones fled the scene but later turned herself in to the Baltimore Police Department’s homicide unit and admitted striking Purnell, saying Purnell’s gun accidentally discharged during the struggle. Charges initially included assault and were later upgraded to involuntary manslaughter and first-degree assault; in April 2023 Jones pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and received a ten-year sentence with all but four years suspended, followed by three years of supervised probation.