Daniel Wayne McFalls was 27 when he was shot and killed on the night of February 27, 2016, in the parking lot of Ridgebrook Apartments north of downtown Knoxville. Family remembered him as a free-spirited son, brother, and uncle who loved UT Football. First responders found McFalls with multiple gunshot wounds to his abdomen, arm, and back; he was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center and later died of his injuries.

Police say the shooting followed an illegal drug transaction that turned into an argument. Investigators identified Demorris Sanchez McKenzie, described as a known Crips gang member, as a person of interest and alleged the dispute began after McKenzie sold fake drugs to McFalls. McKenzie was arrested, charged with murder, convicted of first-degree murder, and received a mandatory life sentence with no possibility of parole for 51 years.