Authorities searched Wednesday for a man who jumped bail during his trial but was still convicted in the shooting death of a transgender woman in Georgia.
The DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office said Davonte Fore and Jaquan Brooks were found guilty Oct. 4 in the June 4, 2021, death of Skyler Gilmore at her apartment in a complex in Stone Mountain, Georgia.
Prosecutors said DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Nora Polk in February released Fore, 26, on bond pending trial, despite their objections. While he was present for the beginning of the trial, Fore fled before its conclusion and is now considered a fugitive. A bench warrant was issued for his arrest.
A jury still found him and Brooks, 25, 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.
“This is why our office works hard to get bonds denied in cases like this, but it’s not our decision to grant bond,” Jacques Spencer, an investigator with the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office, told WAGA-TV.