In the evening hours of November 19, 2021, in Macon, Georgia, 18-year-old Montaveous Raines Jr. was found unresponsive in the parking lot of the Lake Wildwood Baptist Church on Greentree Parkway. He had sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body and was pronounced dead at the scene by the deputy coroner. The initial investigation provided no immediate information on a suspect or the events that led to the fatal shooting.
Subsequent investigation by the Bibb County Sheriff's Office, in conjunction with the U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force, led to the arrests of 18-year-old Jaylen Bryce Smith and 19-year-old Jordan Michael Mullis. Both men were charged with murder, and Mullis faced an additional charge for the purchase, possession, manufacture, distribution, and sale of marijuana. A third individual, Mia Hawkins, was also arrested in connection with the incident. Investigators determined that Raines was fatally wounded during a meeting with the suspects in the parking lot.
The legal proceedings that followed were fraught with complications. The case against Smith and Mullis was dismissed by a judge in October 2024 due to a technical error in the indictment, which was found to be invalid because it did not have the required number of grand jurors. Before this, the case had already faced scrutiny over mishandled evidence, including lost text messages and a corrupted doorbell video that the defense argued was crucial. Despite these setbacks and a subsequent mistrial, the prosecution continued to pursue the case.
During the trial, Smith and Mullis claimed they acted in self-defense, alleging that Raines was attempting to rob them. However, prosecutors presented a different narrative, describing the motive as a 'petty drug dispute'. They argued that the evidence did not support a self-defense claim, pointing out that shell casings found at the scene matched the suspects' weapons, and Raines was found to be unarmed. In August 2025, a Bibb County jury convicted both Jaylen Smith and Jordan Mullis of felony murder. They were both sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the shooting death of Montaveous Raines Jr. Mia Hawkins had previously pleaded guilty for her role in the incident.
