On January 28, 2021, 21-year-old Marquell Wyatt was found inside a vehicle near a vacant apartment complex on McClelland Drive in Baton Rouge after reports of gunfire around 11 p.m. He had suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene; an autopsy later showed he had been shot nineteen times.

Investigators focused on 20-year-old Michael Brooks, uncovering a secret and reportedly volatile romantic relationship between Brooks and Wyatt. Friends said Brooks feared the relationship would become public and that Wyatt had threatened to expose it, a dispute investigators say escalated into the fatal shooting.

Brooks was arrested February 1, 2021, charged with murder, and later indicted on second-degree murder and obstruction of justice. He pleaded not guilty; at trial testimonial and physical evidence linked him to the scene, the defense argued sudden passion, and the jury convicted him on both counts. He received a mandatory life sentence at hard labor without parole and a concurrent ten-year term for obstruction. Did anyone who knew Marquell see signs of trouble in the weeks before January 28, 2021?