Dwayne Young was a 38-year-old father of five from the Waukegan area who was shot and killed after a late-night traffic incident. Born in May 1982, he grew up in Waukegan as the eldest of six children, later earning a GED and working in food service at Naval Station Great Lakes from 2008 to 2017. Family remembrances describe him as outgoing, generous, and devoted to his wife, Carolyn McGowan, and their children; he and his adult son had plans to open a barbershop together and were expecting the birth of a granddaughter.

On the night of October 9, 2020, around 11:50 p.m., Young rear-ended a maroon sedan near 8th Street and Jackson Street in Waukegan. Witnesses say the other driver, identified as Sheldon L. Brown, fired a.40-caliber handgun, first shooting out Young’s tires and then shooting Young. Paramedics took Young to a hospital where he died; an autopsy confirmed a fatal gunshot wound. Brown was arrested the next day and charged with first-degree murder. No prior connection between the men has been reported.