Man Sentenced for Love Triangle Killing of Georgia Homecoming Queen Who Was an 'Inspiration'

A Georgia man was sentenced to life in prison this week for killing his teenage girlfriend, a homecoming queen who is being remembered as an “inspiration” by her high school.

Nakia Dorsey was sentenced to life for shooting and killing Jayne Salazar-Chavez last November, as well as charges for possession of a firearm, and two counts of aggravated assault, according to the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office.

The district attorney’s office said in a news release this week that Dorsey, 24, had been distraught after discovering Salazar-Chavez, 17, was dating another 24-year-old man who was in the Army and had made a surprise trip home to visit Salazar-Chavez on Veteran’s Day last year.

Brandon Wilson, the boyfriend who Dorsey didn't know about, had noticed Salazar-Chavez was acting “withdrawn” after he surprised her at home, according to the district attorney’s office. He then began questioning whether she was dating someone else behind his back and “demanded to see her phone,” the district attorney’s office said.

Wilson then searched the teenager’s phone and discovered a suggestive text from Dorsey, leading him to call Dorsey’s phone number, hanging up before saying a word.

Salazar-Chavez and Wilson then went out for the night, but returned to the teenager’s house later when they were confronted by Dorsey. Wilson told police that as he and Salazar-Chavez sat in his car outside her home, he noticed a red laser shining on his face and then saw a man clad in black clothing pointing a gun at the car.

Then gunshots rang out. “Wilson turned the car around to leave and the shooter continued to unload into the vehicle,” the district attorney’s office said. “In all, 20 bullets pierced the body of the car.” 

Wilson was shot in the leg, but Salazar-Chavez was shot in the arm and the torso. The couple made it to a nearby gas station, where officers found Salazar-Chavez laying on the ground next to the vehicle, according to local station WXIA. She later died from her injuries, while Wilson was taken to a local hospital.

Dorsey was arrested days later at an apartment in Morrow, Ga., according to WXIA, another Atlanta suburb roughly 18 miles south of where the shooting took place.

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Amparo Salazar, Salazar-Chavez’s mother, told the outlet her daughter planned to join the Army after graduating high school.

Salazar-Chavez, who was the homecoming queen at Towers High School in Decatur, Ga., was honored by her high school with a social media post last November.

“Rest in Peace our THS Homecoming Queen,” Principal Tiffany M. Sims wrote on social media. “Jayne you were such an inspiration and a great student leader. We will miss you my dear.”