A welfare check at an extended-stay hotel in Lilburn, Georgia, produced a homicide investigation on April 19, 2022. Gwinnett County police responded to the InTown Suites on Stone Mountain Highway at about 1:45 a.m. and found 30-year-old Denzel Romanie, an African American male, inside a room with a fatal gunshot wound. The medical examiner confirmed the gunshot as the cause of death.

Homicide detectives processed the scene, interviewed witnesses and people connected to Romanie, and identified a person of interest. By the end of the day detectives obtained arrest warrants for 23-year-old Tariq Strickland of Lilburn on charges including aggravated assault, felony murder, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. Investigators had not determined a motive and issued a public appeal for information on Strickland, who was at large.

Anyone with information about Romanie, his activities that night, or the whereabouts of Tariq Strickland is asked to come forward.