Derwin Brown, a 46-year-old Black captain with the DeKalb County Police Department and the sheriff-elect, was assassinated in his Decatur, Georgia, driveway on the evening of December 15, 2000, three days before he was to be sworn in. Returning from a celebratory dinner, Brown was ambushed and shot at least a dozen times in a brazen killing that stunned the community and prompted a wide investigation into a conspiracy to silence him.

Prosecutors focused on the incumbent sheriff, Sidney Dorsey, whom Brown had defeated in a heated runoff. Authorities allege Dorsey arranged the hit to prevent Brown from exposing corruption. Several men were implicated, including former deputy Melvin Walker and David Ramsey, who reportedly participated as shooter and backup/getaway driver with promises of promotion or employment. Two other co-conspirators, Patrick Cuffy and Paul Skyers, cooperated and received immunity.

State trials produced mixed results: Walker and Ramsey were acquitted of murder in March 2002, while Dorsey was convicted in July 2002 of murder, racketeering, and related charges and received life sentences. Federal prosecutors later convicted Walker and Ramsey in August 2005 of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, with life sentences following. What details about the planning or those who knew of it remain unknown to the public?