Chris Allen Villegas Fentress, 28, had recently moved to Savannah, Georgia, with his partner Oscar and was volunteering at the Savannah Pride Center when he was shot and killed after a confrontation at a Dollar General on West Bay Street on the evening of March 15, 2025. According to witnesses, the dispute began inside the store after an elderly man’s offer of help was declined by a cashier; it escalated when another customer, later identified as 27-year-old Johnathan Manson, allegedly demanded that Fentress and his friends pay for his items and directed homophobic slurs at Fentress. Fentress left the store but returned and was then shot; he was taken to Memorial Health University Medical Center, where he died.

Savannah Police arrested Johnathan Manson and charged him with murder; he was denied bond. Friends and advocates, including the Savannah Pride Center, urged a hate crime investigation, citing the alleged slurs and reported anti-LGBTQIA rhetoric on the suspect’s social media, but city officials have said there is currently insufficient evidence to file hate crime charges. The investigation remains ongoing as the community mourns; Fentress was remembered at a vigil in Forsyth Park.

If anyone was in or near the Dollar General on West Bay Street the evening of March 15, 2025, or has information about the altercation, please come forward.