Brian Bowling was 15 when he was shot in the head while on the phone with his girlfriend on the evening of October 18, 1996, in the family’s mobile home in Rome, Georgia. Brian died the following day.

The death was initially treated as an accident and Storey was charged with manslaughter. At the Bowling family’s urging, the investigation was later reopened as a homicide and prosecutors charged Storey and another 17-year-old, Darrell Lee Clark, with murder and conspiracy, alleging the two had killed Brian because he knew about a theft. The prosecution relied on two witnesses: a woman who later said she overheard the defendants discussing a plan to kill Brian, and a hearing- and speech-impaired man police said identified Clark running through the Bowlings’ yard. There was no autopsy and no gunshot residue on Storey’s hands.

Both teens were convicted in 1998 and sentenced to life. New evidence uncovered decades later led to their release in December 2022: Clark was exonerated, and Storey pleaded to involuntary manslaughter for bringing the gun and was credited with time served. Clark has sued the county and investigators alleging police misconduct and fabrication of evidence. Does anyone have additional information about Brian’s last night or contacts who were in the area that evening?