Steven Craig Brutus Moore, 22, was shot dead outside a Claxton, Georgia club on the night of November 3, 2019. He had helped organize a party for local teenagers; adults were acting as chaperones. Trouble began after a dis song was played, the party was shut down, and as Moore was getting into his car a confrontation occurred.

Multiple witnesses placed chaperone Mickey Lewis Byrd, Jr. at the scene; two witnesses said they saw Byrd shoot Moore three times, and the medical examiner ruled Moore’s cause of death as three gunshot wounds. Investigators initially faced reluctance from some witnesses but later obtained an arrest warrant for Byrd; he was found and arrested in Statesboro and denied killing Moore when interviewed.

Byrd was convicted at a bench trial of malice murder and related offenses. Text messages from a teenage witness on the night of the party referenced seeing the shooting and suggested Byrd would be arrested. Byrd received life with parole possible for malice murder plus five years for felony firearm possession.