Joseph Ivory Dukes, a 35-year-old Black man, was found on Moye Road in East Columbus on the evening of January 20, 2021, suffering multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to Piedmont Columbus Regional Midtown Hospital but died from his injuries. Medical authorities recorded four gunshot wounds, two of them to his back.

Before he died, Dukes identified his attacker to a police corporal and to paramedics as an acquaintance, Deante Caruthers, with whom he reportedly had an ongoing dispute. Witnesses also reported seeing the two men in the middle of the roadway during the incident.

The Columbus Police Department investigated and charged Deante Caruthers with murder on February 4, 2021. Anyone with information about Joseph Dukes, his movements that night, or the dispute between Dukes and Caruthers is asked to come forward.