Jaquarrie Garrett was 22 when he was fatally shot in a Kentwood, Michigan hotel hallway on March 4, 2023. He had traveled from Georgia to Grand Rapids to celebrate his son’s first birthday with family at the Delta Hotel on 28th Street SE. While walking from the pool to a room he was ambushed and shot multiple times; an autopsy later recorded five gunshot wounds to his pelvis, back, and shoulder.

Investigators tied the killing to gang-related threats made against Garrett on social media. Surveillance from the hotel showed a ski-masked man leaving the lobby after the shooting; police identified him as 21-year-old Ateivise Jaquez Smith. During a later police pursuit in May 2023, Smith reportedly dropped a .40 caliber Glock 23; ballistic testing linked that gun to shell casings found at the scene. Smith was arrested in Chicago and returned to Kent County to face charges.

Smith was charged with open murder, gang membership, and a felony firearm count. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a prison sentence of 13 to 40 years for the murder plus two years for the firearm conviction. Garrett’s mother and sister addressed the court at sentencing, expressing grief and that the term felt insufficient for their loss.

Did anyone at the hotel notice suspicious activity in the hallway or around the lobby that night?