By Joe Johnson
An Athens man has been charged with murder for a stabbing death last week in Morgan County, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced Tuesday morning.
According to the GBI, 55-year-old Baxter Drive resident Tommy Joe Byrd and his brother were among several people who were involved in an altercation early the morning of May 4 that resulted in someone being stabbed a.m. Monday, Morgan County 911 got a call about several people being stabbed during an altercation the area of Sandy Creek Road, between Bostwick and Madison.
By the time deputies responded to the location, all parties had left the scene. A couple hours later, the GBI said, Walton County 911 received a call of an unresponsive male located off a roadway outside of Monroe in Walton County, where deputies found the body of 58-year-old Monroe resident Jerald Jerome Bowden, deceased from stab wounds.
The GBI identified two suspects, 56-year-old Monroe resident Tommy Roger Byrd and his brother in Athens, Tommy Joe Byrd, both of whom were taken into custody the day of the incident on charges of tampering with evidence.
After an investigation, the GBI determined that the Athens man was responsible for Bowden’s death and he was charged with murder on Friday, according to the GBI.
As of Tuesday morning, the Byrd brothers both continued to be held at the Walton County Jail.