On the night of March 24, 2023, 39-year-old Natalie S. Bell, a Black woman, was fatally shot at the Mystic Mart convenience store in the 600 block of Brown Avenue in Columbus, Georgia. Officers responding to a call at about 11:06 p.m. found Bell suffering from a gunshot wound; she later died from that injury.

Police say the shooting happened during an attempted theft of a firearm. Investigators report a 15-year-old, identified as Jabori Baptiste, was with a group of teenagers outside the store and tried to take a gun from Eugene Bell, Natalie’s brother. Natalie Bell intervened to break up the altercation and was struck when the firearm discharged. Surveillance footage from the gas station was used to identify Baptiste as the suspect.

On June 5, 2023, members of the Columbus Police Violent Crimes Unit and the Muscogee County School District Police arrested Baptiste. He was charged as an adult with murder and armed robbery and is being held without bond at the Aaron Cohn Regional Youth Detention Center. Would anyone who knew Natalie or was at Mystic Mart that night share what they remember?