In the summer of 2015, the life of Marshall Powers, a 45-year-old Black man, was violently taken on a street in Savannah, Georgia.
The incident occurred in the pre-dawn hours of Thursday, August 13, 2015. Around 4:30 a.m., a ShotSpotter gunfire detection system alerted the Savannah-Chatham Metro Police to shots fired in the area of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and West 32nd Street. When officers arrived, they discovered Mr. Powers lying in the street. He had been shot and was pronounced dead at the scene.
An extensive investigation was launched immediately. Officers from all police precincts responded to the area to aid in the search for a suspect and to collect evidence from the large crime scene. The investigation required the closure of several blocks for a couple of hours.
In a statement made shortly after the discovery, a police spokesperson, Eunicia Baker, said the investigation was still in its very preliminary stages and that authorities had no suspect information to release to the public.
At the time, SCMPD Chief Jack Lumpkin commented that the shooting fit a troubling pattern of violence concentrated in certain "hot spots" in the city, often occurring between 3 and 4 a.m. Despite the police response and subsequent investigation, no arrests have been announced in the case. As of January 2016, the investigation into the shooting death of Marshall Powers was still considered open, and his homicide remains unsolved.
