In the early morning hours of August 16, 2022, a devastating act of violence shattered the quiet of a Cedartown, Georgia street and ended the life of 26-year-old Summer Faith Bryant. Bryant was walking with her mother, Julie Thigpen, along East Gibson Street at approximately 3:00 a.m. when gunfire erupted from a passing vehicle. Bryant was struck and died at the scene. Her mother was also injured in the attack, suffering a gunshot wound to the face, but she survived. A man who was walking with them was unharmed.
The investigation into the drive-by shooting quickly led law enforcement to a suspect. Later that same morning, about four miles away in the Collard Valley Road area, police arrested 57-year-old Randy Feleciano McClarity Sr. It was revealed that Bryant and her mother had been living with McClarity. While a definitive motive for the shooting was not immediately released by investigators, the close living situation pointed to a domestic component to the violence.
Randy McClarity Sr. was charged with a litany of offenses, including murder, malice murder, and three counts of aggravated assault. Following his arrest, he was booked into the Polk County Jail and held without bond. In March 2025, a Polk County jury convicted McClarity for his role in the deadly shooting. On April 30, 2025, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 115 years. During the sentencing hearing, McClarity reportedly showed no remorse for his actions and directed profanities at the court and prosecutors, solidifying a violent end to a tragic case that left a community in mourning and a family forever changed.
