On the late evening of May 5, 2022, gunfire was reported on Highland Street in Goodwater, Alabama. Officers arrived around 10:57 p.m. and found 23-year-old Malik Ishmael Holtzclaw of Goodwater with a gunshot wound. He was taken to Russell Medical Center and pronounced dead.

The Goodwater Police Department and the Coosa County Sheriff’s Office handled the investigation. Two men from nearby Sylacauga, Erskin McKinney, Jr. and Kendartus Hale, both 27 at the time, were arrested and charged with manslaughter; bail was set at $100,000 each. McKinney, Jr. posted bond while Hale remained in custody as the Coosa County Sheriff’s Office continued the inquiry.

Holtzclaw was born November 27, 1998. He was a father, his special friend was pregnant, and he is survived by his parents Christopher and Tamica Holtzclaw, siblings, grandparents, and an extended family grieving his loss.

If anyone has information about what happened on Highland Street that night, please share what you know.