Alisha Stephens, 35, was shot and killed in a Popeyes parking lot on Panola Road in Lithonia, Georgia, on October 22, 2018. She was in a Ford truck with her husband, Michael Dale LaVigne, when both were shot; LaVigne survived with multiple gunshot wounds but Stephens died from her injuries. She was a mother of three.

Investigators later determined the couple had gone to the parking lot to buy methamphetamine and that what first appeared to be a random act of violence stemmed from that drug transaction. Police allege the deal was arranged by Juan Carlos Ortiz from prison. In the days after the shooting, 19-year-old Carlos Rodriguez was arrested and charged with murder. A grand jury subsequently indicted Rodriguez, Ortiz, and LaVigne; indictments against Rodriguez and Ortiz included malice murder, felony murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and gang-related counts, while LaVigne was indicted on two counts of felony murder, conspiracy to violate the Georgia Controlled Substances Act, and firearm possession charges.