Elijah Farral, 23, was fatally shot on the evening of Tuesday, October 3, 2023, at the intersection of 10th Street and Rigdon Road in Columbus, Georgia. Police found him with at least one gunshot wound and he was taken to Piedmont Columbus Regional, where he was pronounced dead at 9:05 p.m. His body was sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations for an autopsy. The Columbus Police Department’s Violent Crimes Unit is treating the case as a homicide; no suspects or arrests have been publicly identified.

At the time of his death Farral was out on bond in an unrelated February 2021 incident. Police testimony from that earlier case says Farral, then 20, was with two friends and a loaded handgun when he accidentally pulled the trigger, killing 18-year-old Sara Holtrop, who was asleep on a nearby couch. Farral was facing involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct charges in that matter.

Farral is survived by his father, step-mother, and two sisters. The investigation into who shot him remains open; anyone with information is asked to contact the Columbus Police Department’s Violent Crimes Unit.