DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office says a man, who they say is part of a gang, who was convicted of the murder of a transgender woman is now on the run.
The defendants, JaQuan Brooks and Davonte Fore, were convicted on Oct. 4. Police are searching for Fore after he failed to appear in court once the trial was underway.
The DA’s office said that Skyler Gilmore was killed on June 4, 2021 when two members of a local gang were ordered to murder her after the gang learned she was having a relationship with another gang member.
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According to the DA’s office, Gilmore’s friend called 911 after being on the phone with her while she was at her apartment in Stone Mountain. The woman who called 911 told police that she’d been on the phone with Gilmore right before the shooting when Gilmore got a phone call to let someone through the apartment complex’s security gate.
Soon after, the DA’s office said Gilmore called her friend back to say she’d been shot.
“Gilmore’s friend told investigators that Gilmore identified as a transgender woman and was involved in survival sex, a form of prostitution where someone engages in sex in exchange for basic necessities like food or shelter,” the DA’s office said.
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After pulling surveillance footage from the apartment complex, detectives saw two men in a white Nissan Rogue enter the apartment complex gate. The driver was identified as Brooks and the passenger was identified as Fore.
Analyzing data from Gilmore’s phone, police found a phone number that the DA’s office said had communicated with Gilmore through multiple calls and texts in the hour before the shooting, including a gate code message. The phone number was identified by police as Fore’s.
The DA’s office said both Brooks and Fore were convicted, but Fore was released on bond in February pending trial, despite the state’s opposition. Fore was present at the start of the trial, but did not return to court.
Fore “is now considered a fugitive from justice,” his bond was revoked and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. Brooks was taken into custody after the guilty verdicts were delivered at trial by the jury.
The member of the gang that Gilmore was having a relationship was not identified. A sentencing hearing for Brooks and Fore has not yet been scheduled.
Anyone with information about Fore’s whereabouts is asked to contact the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit at 404-298-8402.
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