One year ago today, Gann suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and hours later was pronounced dead at the hospital, and his family now says they want justice. Since his death, the case surrounding Gann's demise has taken a turn.
Shortly after the incident on Glade Road in Acworth, Bartow County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested the woman alleged to have fired the shot. At that time Lakeisha Arnita Talley, then 22, of Cartersville, who investigators say threw the .22 Magnum in the woods and left the scene, was arrested and charged with murder.
But in February, the grand jury no-billed a murder charge against Talley, finding there was not enough probable cause to return an indictment. Disappointed in a lesser charge, Gann's family points to what they say was an inadequate investigation by Bartow County Sheriff's Office detectives.
"I would like for them to actually speak to these people [who witnessed the incident]. The young lady who was standing directly beside my son [when he was shot], they've never spoke to her," Gann's mother, Kimberly Gann, said, adding that deputies who first responded to the scene interviewed witnesses, but investigators allegedly failed to collect follow-up statements from seven teen witnesses and a neighbor who called authorities. "I want them to be able to give their side of it because my kid deserves the truth to be said about all this instead of hearing [the side of] the person who pulled the trigger."
Two teens -- including the woman who said she was standing next to Gann during the incident and another who said he drove Gann to the party that night and was present during the alleged shooting -- confirmed to The Daily Tribune News that investigators never called them for an interview after the night of the incident, and say they want to make statements concerning the circumstances leading up to the incident.
In the case surrounding Alan Gann's death, grand jurors indicted Talley on an involuntary manslaughter charge, and Kimberly Gann said a firearms charge had since been lodged against Talley.
"My son was my best friend. I thought somebody had ripped my heart out. He was my first child and my best friend," Kimberly Gann said of her son's death. "He was not a fighter. He was one of those kids that if you were arguing he was trying to stop it and make some big joke and get everybody to quit. I call him my peacemaker. ... He was an awesome boy and I just feel like he deserves more than what they're giving him."
In an interview with The Daily Tribune News shortly after the alleged shooting, Lt. Robert Moultrie called the incident "unfortunate," adding that Talley and Gann had never met prior to the evening of the party, which investigators said involved drinking.
"She took the gun out of the trunk [and] pointed it," Moultrie, who then held the rank the of sergeant, said in July 2009. "She was messing with [the gun] or something along those lines. Everybody said it was an accident.
"If it were an accident, then she should have stuck around and told the police, 'It was an accident, I'm sorry.' But it's what she did after the fact that made it appear more incriminating than it really was."
Gann's family and friends at the memorial service gathered 200 signatures on a petition to send to the governor, but Kimberly Gann said she expects to have 1,000 signatures in a short time. She added the group would continue to ask for signers until 3,000 are obtained. If you are interested in signing the petition, contact Kimberly Gann at 678-934-1256.