Edgar Lee Harris IV, 28, a Black man from Columbus, Georgia, died from a gunshot wound after an incident at the Wilson Apartments on the night of July 6–7, 2019. Police were called to the complex after reports of gunfire and found Harris fatally shot; the scene was secured and the case opened as a homicide investigation that drew city detectives’ attention.

Investigators later identified Deronte Kahlil Brown as a suspect and obtained a murder warrant. Brown was arrested on August 13, 2019, in Phenix City, Alabama, after U.S. Marshals located him and he was returned to Columbus. Prosecutors said the two men had been neighbors and involved in a dispute; authorities reported Harris had struck Brown in the head with a baseball bat and that surveillance footage and witness identifications were used in the case, which prosecutors characterized as retaliatory.

Anyone who knew Harris, lived at Wilson Apartments, or has information about the shooting is asked to come forward.