LaVincent Perdue, 23, was killed on the afternoon of June 11, 2021, in Junction City, Kansas. Perdue, a Specialist with the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, had been at Elite Cuts Barbershop on West 6th Street with friends. A dispute with a friend, Willie D. Powell Jr., escalated into a physical fight. After the initial altercation Powell retrieved a gun and shot Perdue multiple times at close range. Perdue was struck in the heart and lungs and collapsed just inside the barbershop doorway; he was taken to Geary Community Hospital and died of his injuries. The shooting was Junction City’s first homicide of 2021.

Powell, then 21, turned himself in to the Topeka Police Department the following day and was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. Investigators reported that Perdue, Powell, and another friend had gone to the barbershop together and initially left firearms in their vehicle. At trial Powell asserted self-defense, saying he feared Perdue after their earlier fight, but a Geary County jury convicted him of intentional second-degree murder after nearly three hours of deliberation in April 2022.

Does anyone who knew LaVincent or witnessed the events that day have information to share?