In the quiet town of Grantville, Georgia, a beloved family and community fixture, 75-year-old Thomas Richard Hawk Sr., met a tragic and violent end. On the evening of April 8, 2022, Hawk, his wife of over 50 years, Evelyn, and their 17-year-old grandson, Alexander Luke Hawk, were brutally murdered at their family-owned business, the Lock, Stock & Barrel Shooting Range. The horrific discovery was made by their own son and Luke's father, Richard Hawk, who served as the Coweta County Coroner. He arrived at the scene to find an unimaginable horror, the loss of three generations of his family in one senseless act.
The investigation that followed painted a grim picture of a robbery gone horribly wrong. The perpetrators had not only taken the lives of the Hawk family but had also stolen approximately 40 firearms from the gun range. The news sent shockwaves through the tight-knit community, where the Hawks were known for their kindness and generosity. Thomas, a retiree from the Ford Motor Company, had fulfilled a lifelong dream by opening the shooting range, a place where he shared his passion for firearms with friends and neighbors. He was described as a man with a 'wild west' spirit, gruff on the outside but with a sensitive soul who loved his family and his church deeply.
The search for those responsible led authorities to 21-year-old Jacob Christian Muse of College Park. Investigators revealed that Muse was a former customer of the shooting range. His arrest brought a sense of relief to the grieving community, but it also deepened the mystery surrounding the motive for such a heinous crime. Evidence presented during the trial showed that many of the stolen firearms were found in Muse's possession.
In a trial that brought the painful details of the murders to the forefront, the prosecution laid out its case against Muse. The evidence was compelling, and after hearing the heart-wrenching testimony, a Coweta County jury found Jacob Christian Muse guilty on multiple counts of malice murder and felony murder. The verdict, delivered in December 2024, brought a measure of legal closure to the Hawk family and the Grantville community, though the profound loss of Thomas, Evelyn, and Luke will forever leave an unfillable void.
