Keyvon Alexander Hardy was a 23-year-old Black man described by his family as passionate about his beliefs and devoted to his loved ones. On the afternoon of Friday, February 9, 2024, a dispute inside a Shell gas station convenience store on Old Dawson Road in Albany, Georgia, escalated into gunfire. After one man left to his car, Hardy and a second man exited the store and an exchange of gunfire occurred in the parking lot. Hardy was shot, taken to Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, and later died of his wounds.

The second man, 23-year-old Kameron Jackson, was also shot, treated at the same hospital and later taken into custody on a murder charge after receiving medical care. A third man fled the scene; police identified him as 24-year-old Aaron Santrez Edwards III, located him, and charged him with murder as well. Albany’s Chief of Police Michael Persley apologized publicly for the violence, and Hardy’s mother spoke about the family’s loss and delays she faced in viewing her son’s body. Anyone with information was asked to contact Albany Area Crime Stoppers or the Albany Police Department.