Keonte Gaskins, 21, was found dead in an outdoor stairwell at the Village of Mitchell Pond Apartment Complex on Parsons Road in Salisbury, Maryland, in the early morning of May 11, 2016. Residents discovered his fully clothed body and alerted authorities around 6:45 a.m.; emergency personnel pronounced him dead with apparent gunshot wounds. A witness later reported hearing gunshots shortly after midnight that day. The Maryland State Police Homicide Unit assisted the Salisbury Police Department.

Investigators determined that three men had driven to the complex to confront Gaskins over an earlier robbery he was later cleared of involvement in. Two 18-year-old Salisbury men, Gerald Ogress Savage Jr. and Joshue Isiah Perry, were arrested on May 29, 2016, on murder and firearm charges; a third man, 21-year-old Daquan Cartier Dickerson, was also implicated. Surveillance footage reportedly shows Dickerson and Perry approaching the stairwell and opening fire; at least five bullets struck Gaskins. Perry and Savage later pleaded guilty to murder-related charges and testified at Dickerson’s trial, and a jury convicted Dickerson of second-degree murder.