Marquis Grooms, 24, was shot dead inside an apartment at the Kensington Oaks Apartments on Mellonville Avenue near Lake Monroe in Sanford, Florida, on January 20, 2016. Officers responding to a 911 call found Grooms inside the unit with a fatal gunshot wound and a woman, Whitney McCloud, with a gunshot wound to her hand; she was taken to Central Florida Regional Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Neighbors reported hearing a commotion and seeing someone running in and out of the apartment, and police noted there may have been children present during the incident.

Police arrested Tonney McCants after the shooting; McCants surrendered to authorities early the next morning. Investigators reported that Grooms had broken into the apartment and assaulted McCants’ girlfriend, and that McCants shot Grooms in what the police described as self-defense. The case was reviewed under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, and charges against McCants were later dropped. Questions remain about the events leading up to the shooting and the presence of children; anyone with information about that night or who knew Marquis is asked to come forward.