DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A man who was convicted of killing a transgender woman is now on the run, according to the DeKalb County District Attorney's Office.
On Oct. 4, a jury found JaQuan Brooks and Davonte Fore guilty on multiple charges connected to the 2021 shooting death of Skyler Gilmore, a 25-year-old transgender woman, in DeKalb County. Both Brooks and Fore have been sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole plus five years on probation.
Following a guilty verdict, Brooks was immediately taken into custody immediately after the verdict. However, despite objections from the state, Fore was released on bond in February 2024. Officials said he was present when the trial started, but he failed to return to court before the guilty verdict and is now a "fugitive of justice."
His bond has been revoked, and a bench warrant has been issued for his arrest.
On June 4, 2021, just before 2 a.m., DeKalb County Police responded to a call at an apartment complex on South Hairston Road in Stone Mountain. They found Gilmore unresponsive in her bedroom with a gunshot wound to the torso. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
A friend of Gilmore’s who had called 911 told police that she had been on the phone with Gilmore just before the shooting. Gilmore had hung up briefly to take a call from someone at the front gate of her apartment complex. Shortly after, Gilmore called her friend back to say she had 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.
Investigators used data from Gilmore’s phone to trace communications to a phone number linked to Fore. Surveillance video from the apartment complex showed Brooks driving a white Nissan Rogue into the complex at 1:39 a.m., with Fore in the passenger seat. Both men were clearly identified in the footage.
Further investigation revealed that Brooks and Fore were members of a local gang. The gang reportedly ordered the killing after it was discovered that Gilmore had been involved with another gang member.
A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled for either of the defendants.
Anyone with information on Fore's whereabouts is urged to contact the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit at 404-298-8132.