DeKalb DA: Gang member convicted of killing Stone Mountain transgender woman is on the run

October 16th, 2024

Skyler Gilmore, 25, was shot and killed on June 4, 2021, in Stone Mountain, Georgia. (Pixabay)

Pixabay Images

DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston said a jury has convicted two men of murdering a transgender woman, and one of those men is on the run.

“On Friday, October 4, jurors found JaQuan Brooks, 25, and Davonte Fore, 26, guilty of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony stemming from the shooting death of Skyler Gilmore…25, on June 4, 2021,” the District Attorney’s Office said.

Fore was arrested in 2022. The state opposed his release, but he received bond in February 2024 pending trial. He was present when the trial started, but he failed to return to court and is now a fugitive, the District Attorney’s Office said.

“DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Nora Polk, who presided over the trial, revoked Fore’s bond and issued a bench warrant for his arrest,” the District Attorney’s Office said. “Anyone with information on his whereabouts should contact the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit at 404-298-8132.”

Boston’s office said the murder occurred in unincorporated Stone Mountain. DeKalb County Police responded to the call before 2 a.m. When they arrived at an apartment complex in the 1400 block of South Hairston Road in Stone Mountain, they found Gilmore unresponsive with a single gunshot wound to her torso. She didn’t survive.

“The woman who called 911 spoke to police and she was Gilmore’s friend. She’d been talking to her before the shooting. Gilmore told her friend she had to hang up because she was getting a call from the front gate of the apartment complex. She then called her friend back and said she’d been shot. Her friend rushed to the apartment complex and called 911.

“Using data from Gilmore’s cell phone, investigators were able to identify a phone number that had communicated with her through calls and texts multiple times in the hour before the shooting, including a text where Gilmore sent the recipient the gate code,” the District Attorney’s Office said. “Investigators linked that phone number to Defendant Fore.”

Detectives reviewed surveillance video and it showed two people inside a white Nissan Rogue entering the apartment complex gate at 1:39 a.m. Brooks was the driver. The passenger was identified as Fore.

“Through the investigation, detectives learned Defendant Brooks and Defendant Fore were members of a local gang, which ordered them to murder Gilmore after it was discovered she was sleeping with another member of the gang,” the District Attorney’s Office said. Immediately following the guilty verdicts, Defendant Brooks was taken into custody.”

This story was provided by WABE content partner Decaturish.