Jessica Schanae Nowell, 24, was found dead in her Savannah, Georgia, home on West Montgomery Crossroad on the evening of October 22, 2013. Law enforcement has described her death as part of a murder-suicide; investigators concluded that her former partner, 24-year-old Justin Baldwin, shot and killed Nowell in her bed at their former shared residence before driving to a relative’s home and shooting himself. Baldwin was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound about five miles from Nowell’s home and died at a local medical center two days later.

Nowell had graduated from Clarke Central High School in 2008 and received her degree from Savannah State University on May 4, 2013. While in college she served in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and held the rank of Airman 1st Class with the Security Forces Unit at Dobbins Air Force Base. Funeral services were held October 26, 2013, at Timothy Baptist Church and she was buried at Evergreen Memorial Park Cemetery. The motive for the murder-suicide was not released by authorities.