Gangster arrested for Athens man’s murder

Delvin Duran Buckles

By Joe Johnson

A second suspect has been arrested for the murder of 29-year-old Antwone Shalmar Lay of Athens who was recently shot to death in the parking lot of a church in Jackson County.

Delvin Duran Buckles, a 37-year-old purported street gang member, was taken into custody Thursday at the Clarke Gardens apartment complex and subsequently booked into the Jackson County Jail on murder and other felony charges related to Lays death.

Previously arrested was 31-year-old William Austin of Jefferson, who was charged by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation with murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and tampering with evidence.

William Austin

Authorities have not indicated whether Lay’s murder was gang related.

However, the U.S. Justice Department in June 2022 identified Buckles as a documented affiliate of the Gangster Disciples street gang

Antwone Lay

The crime occurred on July 12, after Lay was picked up by a vehicle in the Nellie B neighborhood of Athens and driven to Antioch United Methodist Church Road in Nicholson where he was gunned down.

Agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation look for evidence in the parking lot where Antwone Lay was killed

At the time of his death Lay was free on bond from his arrest in January for a drive- by shooting on Rocksprings Court in Athens.