On the evening of October 13, 2017, 31-year-old Javis Walker was shot and killed inside a Dollar General on East Oglethorpe Boulevard in Albany, Georgia. According to reports, Walker intervened during an armed robbery to protect the store cashier and was fatally shot while attempting to stop the assailant. His family and law enforcement described his actions as courageous.

Investigators identified three persons of interest and, in the days after the killing, arrested 22-year-old Cohen Scott Mathews in neighboring Lee County and charged him with murder and aggravated assault. A second man, 28-year-old Shanorris Taylor, was later arrested at his home and charged with felony murder and aggravated assault; both men were booked into the Dougherty County Jail. Two women were also sought as persons of interest: Lisa Marie Grigg later spoke with investigators and was charged in Lee County with hindering apprehension of a criminal, and Heather Nicole Jeffcoat was named as the other woman of interest.

Prosecutors announced intentions to seek the death penalty against the two primary suspects, and as of late 2020 the cases remained pending amid a backlog of murder trials attributed in part to the global pandemic. If anyone witnessed the robbery or Walker’s intervention that night, please share what was seen or any other information that could help the case.