In 2020, Matima “Swavy” Miller transformed from a teenager chasing a dream into one of TikTok’s fast-rising stars. Within a little more than a year on the platform, he had drawn millions of followers with his high-energy dance videos, many of them featuring his signature colorful Crocs.
His rapid ascent ended tragically on the morning of July 5, 2021, when Swavy was shot and killed outside his home in Wilmington, Del., after picking up breakfast for his mother.
As his loved ones and fans pushed for answers, investigators began reconstructing the events that led to his death. Their work eventually pointed to a suspect tied not only to Swavy’s killing, but also to dozens of other crimes.
Who Was Matima “Swavy” Miller?
Long before TikTok became his stage, Swavy showed off his moves for his family in his living room.
“[He] was always really good at dancing,” his sister Qua’Naijha Clark recalled in the Investigation Discovery docuseries Deadly Influence: The Social Media Murders. “He grew up idolizing Michael Jackson, Chris Brown, was always on beat—just was natural.”
“He did aspire to be one of the greatest,” she added. “He always knew that he would eventually get to where he wanted to be, and that’s when he ended up getting into TikTok.”
Swavy’s audience grew quickly as he posted dance and comedy clips, reaching his first million followers in just nine months.
Those closest to him said he was also thinking seriously about his future. As violence escalated in his community, Swavy was determined to build a way out of Wilmington by expanding his career as a creator and traveling for TikTok collaborations.
“He was trying to save up for a house in Atlanta,” his best friend Quan said on Deadly Influence. “He wanted to move everybody that he cares about into a different state for better opportunities and a better lifestyle, just everything.”
What Happened on the Day of Swavy’s Murder?
On the morning of July 5, 2021, Swavy headed to McDonald’s to buy breakfast for his mother, Chanelle Clark, with Quan riding along in the car.
“When we were on the way home, randomly, he just had, like, this sentimental conversation with me,” Quan shared. “He was like, ‘I love you, bro, and I got a plan.’ I’m gonna move us out to Atlanta this or next week.”
When they got back to the apartment with breakfast, Swavy was “shot at point-blank range” by a man in a ski mask, according to court records.
Quan witnessed the fatal encounter and rushed to get his friend’s mom from inside the home.
“My son was face down on the ground,” Chanelle recalled in the docuseries. “I screamed and ran over there to him, and everything just went out of my head. I saw three shots in his back, and it was another three shots in his chest.”
She said an ambulance took Swavy to the hospital, where she learned he died of his injuries.
The following day, their family broke the news of his death to his followers.
“He was taken away from us due to a senseless act of gun violence,” they wrote on Instagram, adding that the family was “working diligently to get justice for Swavy.”
Who Killed Matima “Swavy” Miller?
As a witness to the attack, Quan was key in identifying the man behind it: Israel Lecompte.
“Within hours of the shooting, [Quan] sent [Swavy]’s older brother, Rahkim, a picture of Israel and identified him as [Swavy]’s shooter,” according to Delaware Supreme Court records. Then, less than two weeks later, Quan “spoke with police and identified Israel as the shooter from a six-person lineup.”
Witnesses also placed a black car with tinted windows near the scene, which was supported by surveillance footage from a nearby gas station, per court records. Days later, a stolen vehicle was recovered and processed for evidence; Israel’s fingerprint was found on the driver’s side door, and handgun cartridges were found in the car. The owner of the stolen car later testified that the vehicle seen in the surveillance footage was his.
Israel was also identified in a police lineup by Deborah Cleveland as the man who she saw shoot her grandson, Quinton Dorsey, on July 3, 2021, two days prior to Swavy’s death.
Cleveland said that she, Quinton and his young cousins had been sitting on the porch outside when a man in a sweatshirt shot him “multiple times in the head at point-blank range,” according to court records. Shell casings at the scene were identified as 9 mm Luger—the same type as the cartridges in the stolen car identified to be at the scene of Swavy’s shooting.
Quinton was an entrepreneur behind the clothing brand Bag Season and had previously collaborated with Swavy.
“At first it was just business, just collabs,” Qua’Naijha said in Deadly Influence, “but I feel like they grew a real bond afterwards.”
Following a months-long police investigation, in November 2021, the Delaware Department of Justice announced that Israel had been indicted on 38 felony charges, including two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Swavy and Quinton.
The case went to trial in 2024, and that April, a New Castle County jury found him guilty of the two counts of murder, 14 counts of first-degree reckless endangerment, four counts of robbery and 21 counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, among other charges.
Israel received two life sentences for the two murder convictions, with an additional 163 years for the other convictions, Delaware Online reported.
Why Did Israel Lecompte Kill Swavy?
In a news release announcing his conviction, prosecutors in the case said Israel was the “last remaining defendant in the state’s years-long case against the violent gang NorthPak.“
“We think Israel Lecompte wanted to go out and prove his worth to his fellow gang members,” the lead prosecutor Joe Grubb said in Deadly Influence. “So, he went on a 10-day crime spree and took it upon himself to rob, shoot, steal and promote the gang continuously on Instagram.”
Grubb added that Swavy and Quinton were “absolutely innocent victims” with “no gang affiliation whatsoever.”
“[They] were two entrepreneurs. They were innovators,” he said. “Israel Lecompte considered that a score for his gang if he were to take them out, and sadly, that’s what he chose to do.”
Where Is Swavy’s Killer Israel Lecompte Now?
Israel is currently serving his dual life sentences. He was last noted as serving time at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center, a state prison in Smyrna, Del., inmate records show.
In Israel’s direct appeal in 2025, the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s verdicts, finding that the appeal was “wholly without merit,” per court records.
