lit a candle 23 Sept 2026Only just read about this today, saw it shared and couldn't stop thinking about it. 23 years old, asleep in someone's home. I didn't know him at all but it's sat with me all afternoon.
Their story
Lucas De'lane Daughtry was a 23-year-old welder from Pelham, Georgia, who was shot and killed in Panama City Beach, Florida, in the early hours of July 11, 2026. He had traveled to Florida to visit his girlfriend and was asleep in her home when, according to investigators, a gunman broke…
Lucas De'lane Daughtry was a 23-year-old welder from Pelham, Georgia, who was shot and killed in Panama City Beach, Florida, in the early hours of July 11, 2026. He had traveled to Florida to visit his girlfriend and was asleep in her home when, according to investigators, a gunman broke in and opened fire.
Daughtry was born on February 14, 2003, in Thomasville, Georgia, and grew up in the Pelham and Thomasville area of South Georgia. He worked as a welder for Merritt Manufacturing and Fabrication in Cairo, Georgia, and was a member of Union Grove Baptist Church. He was not a public figure before his death; he became known nationally because of the violent and preventable circumstances surrounding it.
Police say the shooting stemmed from a domestic dispute involving Daughtry's girlfriend and her ex-boyfriend, Preston Marquise Roulhac, 31, of Panama City. Panama City Police Chief Mark Smith said Roulhac was angry that his ex had moved on with a new partner. Investigators allege Roulhac broke into the woman's home on the 3700 block of West 21st Street and shot Daughtry multiple times with an AK-47 while Daughtry slept, then turned the gun on the woman as she fled. She was not injured.
Roulhac fled north toward Lynn Haven in a Chrysler 300 that was tracked by license plate reader cameras. After a brief pursuit and a crash, he ran into a wooded and swampy area before being taken into custody. He has been charged with second-degree felony murder committed during a burglary, along with additional counts including burglary of an occupied dwelling, grand theft of a motor vehicle, fleeing and eluding police, and other charges unrelated to the shooting itself, and he is being held without bond.
Daughtry's death drew added scrutiny after his family said Panama City police had failed to respond in person to a 911 call his girlfriend made hours before the shooting, reporting that Roulhac was threatening and harassing her. City officials later confirmed the responding officer handled the call by phone rather than going to the scene, a violation of department policy, and the officer was fired. Daughtry's parents, Jennifer Witter and Bobby Daughtry, said they are pursuing legal action against the department, arguing a stronger response could have prevented his death.
Friends and family remembered Daughtry as a beloved son and brother whose sudden death left, in the words of a sister who organized a fundraiser for funeral costs, an irreplaceable gap in the family. His funeral was held on July 18, 2026, at Union Grove Baptist Church in Pelham, with burial at Pinecrest Memory Gardens, and a community carwash fundraiser and an online campaign helped cover funeral expenses.
Biography adapted from News reports and the sources cited on this page; death reported by mypanhandle.com.
same, saw it on a news clip and had to look up more, so senseless