Police in Georgia are looking for a man who was convicted of murdering a transgender woman in 2021 but fled during his trial, the DeKalb County District Attorney said in a press release.
Davonte Fore, 26, and JaQuan Brooks, 25, were found guilty by a jury on October 4 of the murder of Skyler Gilmore, 25, that took place in Stone Mountain on June 4, 2021. Both men were found 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.
The two men, both gang members, were acting on orders from their gang to kill Gilmore because she was in a sexual relationship with a fellow gang member, authorities said.
Fore was arrested in November 2022. Over the objections of prosecutors, DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Nora Polk released him on a $25,000 bond pending trial in February 2024. Polk was appointed to the bench in 2022 by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. Fore was present during the initial stages of the trial but later skipped bail before the case went to the jury. Polk revoked his bond and declared him a fugitive of justice.
“I’m hoping he’s caught because this is a bad guy,” Skyler Gilmore’s father, Chauncey Gilmore, told local Fox affiliate WAGA following the convictions.
Police said they were called to Gilmore’s residence around 2 a.m. on June 4, 2021, by a female friend of Gilmore.
“The woman who called 911 to report the shooting was on scene and spoke with police. She said she was a friend of Gilmore’s and had been on the phone with her just before the shooting,” DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston said in the press release. “The woman said Gilmore told her she needed to hang up because she was getting a call from the front gate of the apartment complex. Gilmore then called her friend back and said she had been shot. The friend rushed to Gilmore’s apartment to try to help and dialed 911.”
Police found Gilmore unresponsive in her bathroom suffering from a single gunshot wound to the torso. She was taken to a local hospital where she later died.
The friend told police on the scene that Gilmore was “involved in survival sex, a form of prostitution where someone engages in sex in exchange for basic necessities like food or shelter.”
Investigators used cell phone data to place Fore and Brooks at Gilmore’s apartment at the time of her murder. Gilmore also sent text messages, including one with the gate code minutes before her murder, to a phone later identified as belonging to Fore. CCTV footage also showed Fore as a passenger and Brooks as the driver of a car at the apartment complex gate when Gilmore sent the gate code to Fore’s phone.
While Fore remains a fugitive, Brooks appeared at trial and was taken into custody following his conviction.
Jacques Spencer, Supervising Investigator in the Homicide and Gangs Unit at the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office, did not hide his displeasure with Polk for granting bail to Fore.
“This is why our office works hard to get bonds denied in cases like this, but it’s not our decision to grant bond,” Spencer said following the convictions.
Gilmore’s father agreed with Spencer.
“Personally, I don’t think that he’s supposed to have been out on a $25,000 bond on a murder case, but he was, and I understand that, but I’m hoping that the people get him, and they get him fast,” he said.
Prosecutors warned against contact with Fore, saying he is dangerous. They also reported he has contacts in California. Anyone with information on his whereabouts should immediately contact the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit at (404) 298-8132.
