A woman who was found dead in a home in Statham Sunday morning may have been struck by a vehicle in the street outside, Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said Tuesday afternoon.
“We are investigating the incident and what occurred at the scene, which included the possibility the deceased female had injuries that could be consistent with being struck by a vehicle,” Smith said.
“We are working with the DA’s office now including the GBI to piece the facts together” before issuing an updated news release concerning the incident, the sheriff said.
The Barrow Journal-News reported that the victim had been struck by a vehicle being driven by her boyfriend following an altercation.
Smith would not confirm reports that the boyfriend was in custody.
"We have a person in custody," the sheriff said. "That is all we are releasing at the request of the GBI and DA’s office until we can recreate what happened to determine if anyone is charged."
Officials had yet to identify the victim as of Tuesday afternoon.
The sheriff’s office first announced they were investigating a woman’s death in a Sunday morning media release.
In the release, the sheriff’s office did not indicate whether the death was being investigated as a homicide.
However, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Scene Unit personnel were viewed processing the scene for evidence, and Statham Mayor Joe Piper said that when the city’s police chief notified him about the death investigation, the chief indicated that the death resulted from “wrongdoing in the neighborhood.”
The neighborhood is an unfinished subdivision is located off of Providence Road, just down the street from Statham Elementary School.
According to the sheriff’s Sunday news release, deputies were dispatched at about 8:30 a.m.to 88 Goldshore Way to investigate a neighbor’s report of seeing a trail of blood that led from the driveway to the home’s front door. When deputies arrived they realized that some of the blood was in the shape of a human foot, according to the release.
The deputies made forced entry to the home and found the deceased female after they looked through a window and observed more blood inside the residence.
Statham Police Chief Ira Underwood and other officials at the scene would not say whether the victim lived in the house on Goldshore Way or disclose any information that went beyond the sheriff’s news release.