A targeted home invasion on the morning of December 24, 2019, ended in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Gervonte Taplin in a residence on Turret Drive in the Millerville area of Baton Rouge. The assailant went directly to the bedroom where Taplin and his 10-year-old brother were; gunfire struck Taplin multiple times and he died at the scene. The younger brother was also hit by a bullet but survived. Their father was home and made a 911 call while trying to stop his older son’s bleeding; the boys’ mother had just left for work.

Investigators tied the attack to a dispute between Taplin and another 17-year-old, Koverias Garner, identified as a member of a street gang known as The 300. After the shooting, Taplin’s PlayStation 4 was taken and later traced to a business on College Drive in February 2020; store records showed a relative of Garner had attempted to sell the console, a lead that contributed to Garner’s arrest and murder charge.

Anyone with memories of Turret Drive or information about the dispute between Taplin and Garner is asked to come forward.