By Joe Johnson
Oconee County Sheriff Scott Berry Friday afternoon made a direct appeal for a murder suspect to turn himself in.
“This post is directed at a certain individual,” Berry wrote in a message posted to his agency’s Facebook page at 1:17 p.m.
“Life on the run from the law is hard,” Berry wrote. “I am asking you to find the nearest police station or Sheriff's Office and just go to the front desk and turn yourself in. We don't want anyone hurt, especially you," the sheriff’s post stated.
The unnamed person Berry appealed to is one of four suspects in the July 16 shooting death of 19-year-old Watkinsville resident Joseph “Joey” Kendall Jackson.
The other suspects were taken into custody over the past few days.
They were identified by the sheriff’s office as Athens residents Ryan Timothy O’Neal, 18, Akhemu Nehisi Dunston, 18 and his brother Quentin Keith Dunston, 19.
Without elaborating, Berry told Classic City News that investigators believed “it is in our best interest” to not yet publicly identify the fourth suspect. He said investigators had reason to believe the suspect left the state but remained somewhere in the Southeast.
“You can call me at 706-769-3945 24 hours a day and we can talk, but you have to stop running,” Berry said to the suspect in the social media appeal.
“You know you will get caught. Your family loves you. They always will. We know who did your laundry and where you left it. Please give me a call or just stop somewhere and dial 911,” Berry said in the post.
Berry said his office will not release details about Jackson’s alleged murder until after the final suspect is in custody.
Previously, the sheriff’s office said that Jackson had left the Cumberland Drive home where he lived with his grandparents the night of July 16 and when he returned home at about midnight his grandparents found him bleeding from “significant injuries “outside their home
The sheriff’s office said at the time that investigators believed something happened to Jackson at the corner of Whippoorwill Road and Cumberland Drive, where a large amount of shattered glass from a vehicle’s side window was located.
Berry on Wednesday said the glass had been shattered by gunfire that killed Jackson.