Three teenagers are facing murder charges in northwest Central Georgia after their plot to egg a home over a reported “an ongoing lovers quarrel” ended in gunfire, officials said.
Sydney Maughon, 18, Jeremy Munson, 19, and McKenzie Davenport, 19, were jailed Monday without bond in connection to the fatal shooting of homeowner, Johnathan Gilbert, the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office released in a statement Friday.
The shooting took place on July 3 in a residential neighborhood just north of the city of Griffin, about 40 miles south of Atlanta.
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An egging, a confrontation and shots fired
Deputies responded to a report of a man down in the road and found the victim, who also goes by the name Tyler Lane, dead at the scene, Sheriff Darrell Dix said.
According to the statement, the trio were vandalizing Gilbert’s home with eggs when he came out to confront them.
“The suspects ran back to the car, and as Gilbert approached them, Sydney Maughon, a backseat passenger in the car, produced a firearm and shot him multiple times,” Dix said. “The suspects then drove away leaving Gilbert dead in the middle of (the road).”
A witness provided information related to the shooting and detectives traced a cell phone number that belonged to one of the suspects to a neighboring county, where police found a car they said was used in the crime. Inside the car, detectives located a gun believed to have been used in the killing.
Detectives arrested all three teens later that day.
‘An ongoing lovers quarrel’
A motive was not immediately known in the crime, but Dix said it may have stemmed from an “ongoing lovers quarrel.” Details about the quarrel were not immediately known.
In addition to murder, the trio face charges including battery and criminal trespassing. Maughon and Munson are also charged with aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.
The suspects’ court records were not immediately available Monday morning, so it was unclear whether they had obtained attorneys. Online county records show they remained jailed on Monday morning.
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‘Just as if they had each pulled the trigger’
Although authorities said Maughon is who fired shots, Dix said said all three are culpable in the killing “just as if they had each pulled the trigger themselves.”
“They went to egg a house, the victim confronted them while they were doing it, he lost his life, and they drove off and left his body in the middle of the road,” Dix said. “Together they bought that ticket; now together they can ride that ride.”
Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.
