By Joe Johnson
Three more suspects have been charged with murder in connection with the shooting deaths of two people whose bodies were found on the side of a road last month in Walton County, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced Friday afternoon.
The first suspect, 19-year-old Tommy Charles Webb of Epps Bridge Parkway in Athens, was already in custody for a parole violation at the Clarke County Jail when served with a malice murder warrant on June 1, the GBI said. He was additionally charged with felony murder, being a party to the crime of murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and violating the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism Prevention Act.
The GBI on Friday disclosed that three other suspects had been charged in connection with the May 15 shooting deaths of James Robert Evans, 27, and Jaymine Whitlock, 32, both of whom were characterized by the GBI as transients who were staying in Monroe when they were killed.
They were identified as Antavius Teazia Wilcox, 23, of Savannah, charged with two counts each of malice and felony murder, aggravated assault, being a party to the crime of murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm during the commission of as crime, and violating the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism Prevention Act; Omar Marsh, 26, of Gainesville, charged with being a parry to the crime of murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and violating the anti-gang statute; and Elicia Rivera, 36, of Gainesville, charged with being a party to the crime of murder.
The investigation leading to the four arrests began early the morning of May 15, when Social Circle police responded to a report of a man and woman deceased on Thurman Baccus Road, according to the GBI.
Both victims had been fatally shot.
“What we can say about where these victims are from is that Evans had connections to Hoschton in the past. Whitlock may have had some connections to Gainesville at one point,” GBI Director of Public Affairs Nelly Miles previously told Classic City News.
“They have been described to us as transients in recent months, and we know from our work that they were staying in Walton County” for several days prior to their deaths, Miles said.
Friday's announcement provided some more details of the double slaying: “During the early morning hours of May 5, 2020, James Evans and Jaymie Whitlock were taken from a residence in Monroe, Ga. And were driven to Thurman Baccus Road in Social Circle, Georgia where they were shot to death.”
The GBI said the suspects are expected to face additional charges when indicted.
Wilcox was currently jailed in Chatham County for an unrelated murder.
The double homicide in he Walton County community was investigated by the GBI, the Athens-Clarke County, Clayton County, Monroe and Savannah police departments, as well as the Walton and Clarke county sheriff's offices, FBI Safe Streets Task Force in Athens, and the Alcovy Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office.