On the morning of March 30, 2021, Marcus Golden, a 28-year-old Black man, was shot and killed in the stairwell of the Mosaic Hills Apartments on Kent’s East Hill. Neighbors had reported a heated argument and a woman screaming in a nearby apartment; Golden went to check on the disturbance and was found by officers with a single gunshot wound to the chest. Attempts to render aid were unsuccessful and he died at the scene. The suspect fled on foot; a K-9 search that night did not locate the person.

Investigators focused on a man known to the woman involved in the initial dispute. Witnesses said Golden and that man knew each other. Golden’s roommate said he followed Golden up the stairs and was pushed back down just before the suspect allegedly produced a handgun and shot Golden. An arrest followed on April 13, 2021, when 27-year-old Darian Dion Downing was taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm; bail was set at $3 million.

The trial record shows Downing’s defense claimed self-defense, alleging Golden was the aggressor and had brass knuckles and a tire plug insertion tool. The case left a family and community grieving a man described as a hero who went to help others. Does anyone have information about Marcus Golden’s final movements that night or witnessed the confrontation in the stairwell?