On the afternoon of Saturday, September 17, 2022, 23-year-old DeAnthony Latrell Elston of Sylacauga, Alabama, was found unresponsive inside a gray Dodge Challenger on Wood Street after gunfire was reported. Known to family and friends as Zip, he had sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene by the Talladega County Coroner’s Office. His body was sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Science in Montgomery for autopsy.

The Sylacauga Police Department opened a homicide investigation and appealed to the public for information, with a specific sergeant handling tips and Central Alabama Crime Stoppers offering a reward for leads that could result in an arrest. As of the latest accounts, no suspects have been publicly identified and no arrests have been announced; the investigation remains ongoing.

If anyone has information about DeAnthony’s death or was in the Wood Street area on September 17, 2022, please contact the Sylacauga Police Department tip line.