A neighbor dispute in a Decatur apartment complex ended in gunfire the evening of August 16, 2020. Thirty-five-year-old Darryl Halden was found unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds near a dumpster at his building on Friendly Heights Boulevard. He was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead.

Surveillance footage showed Halden leaving the building with two bags of trash, and his downstairs neighbor, 53-year-old Alphonso Watts, leaving the dumpster area shortly afterward. Residents told investigators the men had an ongoing conflict: Watts was upset about Halden storing a bicycle in the hallway and believed someone was spying on him through a smoke detector. Watts acknowledged to police that he believed he was being watched through his smoke detectors.

Watts was arrested and charged in connection with Halden’s death. After a jury trial he was found guilty of Malice Murder, two counts of Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, and a judge imposed life plus 15 years. Does anyone who lived at Friendly Heights Boulevard in 2020 recall tensions between these two men or have information about that night?