On the evening of March 28, 2022, a planned meeting in a Dollar General parking lot on Sutherland Avenue in Knoxville ended in a fatal exchange of gunfire that killed 18-year-old Jaqwan Gillette. Prosecutors say Gillette and a 17-year-old drove there intending to buy marijuana but planned to rob the seller. Gillette allegedly held a gun to the seller’s back; the seller turned and fired, and a shootout followed. Gillette, the teen, and Shani Harris all reportedly fired at the seller, who fled to his car. Gillette was found collapsed in a lower parking lot at nearby Sutherland Flats and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Knoxville police arrested Harris on March 30, 2022, and a 17-year-old was taken into custody on juvenile petitions; both faced attempted first-degree murder and attempted aggravated robbery charges, and Harris was also charged with possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony. On February 27, 2023, Harris, then 21, pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment; the earlier charges were dismissed and a judge sentenced her to four years with the opportunity to seek judicial diversion.

Did anyone in Knoxville witness the Dollar General meeting or the movements around Sutherland Flats that night?