On the afternoon of February 14, 2023, 21-year-old Rahleik R. Garcia was fatally shot in Knoxville’s Lonsdale neighborhood. Officers found Garcia with a gunshot wound around 5 p.m. on Badgett Drive near Goins Drive; he had been sitting in the passenger seat of a Toyota Camry outside an apartment building when the attack occurred and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police say multiple assailants ambushed the car and fled. Investigators reported the encounter was linked to a planned meeting about a profitable scam involving another person who had been in the vehicle with Garcia; that person, identified as Jerriah Love, was chased but escaped. Within two weeks, three suspects were arrested and charged in connection with the shooting.

Known as Rah to his family, Garcia was a father of two, a Science Hill High School graduate who played football and basketball, and someone who wrote music and enjoyed making people laugh. Does anyone who knew Rah or who was in the Lonsdale area that afternoon have information to share?