On the late afternoon of November 28, 2015, 20-year-old Nicolas Morales Garcia was shot in the parking lot of the Esquire Apartments on Buford Highway in Brookhaven. Emergency responders arriving after multiple 911 calls found Garcia with a single gunshot wound; he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Witnesses reported hearing an argument between two men shortly before the shot. Investigators focused on a familial dispute over a reported $400 debt. A forensic sketch led to identification of a person of interest: Carlos Eduardo Morales Gallardo, Garcia’s 20-year-old cousin. Gallardo fled after the shooting, went to his mother in Covington, and admitted to the killing while asking for money to flee to Mexico; his mother refused and urged him to take responsibility.

Gallardo was arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault. He initially said the shooting was accidental but later told family he had shot his cousin over the debt. In a pre-trial hearing on July 6, 2017, Carlos Eduardo Morales-Gallardo pleaded guilty to felony murder and was sentenced to life in prison for Nicolas Morales Garcia’s death.

Did anyone in the Brookhaven area witness the argument that led to this shooting or have information about the events in the Esquire Apartments parking lot?