In the quiet town of Grantville, Georgia, a tragedy unfolded that would leave a permanent scar on the community. On April 8, 2022, 18-year-old Alexander 'Luke' Hawk was shot and killed alongside his grandparents, Tommy and Evelyn Hawk, both 75. The male teenager, a senior at East Coweta High School, was spending his spring break helping at his grandparents' business, the Lock, Stock & Barrel Shooting Range.
The horrific discovery was made by Luke's own father, Richard Hawk, who served as the Coweta County Coroner. Responding to the scene in his official capacity, he found his son and his parents slain in an apparent robbery. The tight-knit community was left in shock and disbelief by the senseless act of violence against a well-known and respected family. Investigators determined that about 40 firearms had been stolen from the shop, and the security camera had also been taken.
The investigation, a joint effort by the Grantville Police Department, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, quickly focused on a suspect. A week after the murders, as the community held a candlelight vigil for the beloved family, authorities announced the arrest of 21-year-old Jacob Christian Muse of College Park. Muse, who had been a customer at the gun shop previously, was found with many of the stolen weapons in his possession.
In December 2024, justice was served for the Hawk family. A Coweta County jury took less than two hours to convict Jacob Muse on multiple counts, including malice murder and felony murder. During the trial, the prosecution detailed how Muse had shot and killed all three family members before robbing the gun range. Muse was subsequently sentenced to three consecutive life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional life sentence and 15 years. The verdict brought a legal conclusion to the case that had so deeply wounded the Grantville community, though the family's pain remains.
