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The Milledgeville Police Department currently is conducting a murder investigation after a man was fatally shot at some point late Friday or early Saturday.
The victim has been identified as Joshua Corey Jones, 43, listed with an address on Thomas Drive in Putnam County, which is off of Twin Bridges Broad. A black Range Rover was parked near the victim and taken into evidence by the MPD. At this point, however, detectives aren't 100 percent sure if Jones was the driver of the vehicle.
Jones' body was discovered in between two apartment buildings in the 300 block of Evans Avenue in the Graham Homes/Boddie projects, which is largely a construction zone these days. A 911 call originally came in at 8:19 Saturday morning "in reference to an unresponsive white male."
"This is an active and ongoing investigation," according to an MPD press release. "Anyone with information please call 478-414-4090 and ask for Lt. Everett January or call Macon Regional Crimestoppers 478-742-2330."
The incident marks the third homicide of 2023 here in Baldwin County, which puts the county on pace for an annual homicide rate of roughly 13. Georgia's homicide rate for 2021, which is the most recent year available, was 11.4, while the national homicide rate in 2021 was 7.8, according to the CDC.
Center for Disease Control & Prevention
In early March, 10-year-old Damarion Byrd, a fifth-grade student at Midway Hills Academy, was fatally shot while in his bed. The incident occurred around 1:30 a.m. in the 200 block of Harrisburg Road. Two people were inside of the mobile home at the time of the incident – Byrd and his father. At least 17 shots were fired into the home from the woodline behind the trailer park.
Numerous suspects ultimately were arrested in connection to the death.
That incident followed the murder of Syee Havior, the Baldwin High student who was fatally shot in early February after coming home from work. Five males barged into the home at 145 Black Springs Road across the river in a "targeted home invasion." Two men and three juveniles ultimately were arrested.
