On May 11, 2020, Richard Mladick was shot in the back. Javan Berry had been involved in a land dispute with Richard for years. After a heated argument, as Richard was walking away from him, Javan killed the 51-year-old father of four with a semiautomatic rifle. Javan claimed that he feared for his life, because Richard had been using racial slurs and may have theoretically been walking away to retrieve a gun of his own; according to Javan, he only intended to hit Richard in the legs.