On the afternoon of May 10, 2021, deputies were called to conduct a welfare check at the Avalon Mobile Home Park on Jeffersonville Road in Macon, Georgia. Inside one of the homes, they made a tragic discovery. Quinterious Hillman, a 29-year-old Black man, and his roommate, 29-year-old Jerod Lester, were found unresponsive. Both men had been shot to death.
The discovery, made around 4:30 p.m., sent a shockwave of grief through their community.
Family and neighbors gathered behind the crime scene tape as investigators worked, a testament to how loved the two men were. Lester's cousin, Whitney Waters, described them as hardworking men who were trying to better themselves. “Those boys didn’t do anything wrong,” she said. “They worked. They were very hard-working men. And they was just trying to make a living for themselves… Senseless killing. For nothing.” Hillman’s brother, Shandarius, later expressed hope that their community could come together to make a difference and stop such violence.
The investigation moved quickly, and an arrest was made the following day. Jaives Jamel Fountain, 19, was taken into custody and charged with two counts of murder. Investigators reported that Fountain admitted to being at the home at the time Hillman and Lester were killed. Several months later, a second suspect, Trequan Raquez Fox, was also arrested in connection with the killings. A grand jury later indicted both Fountain and Fox on multiple counts of murder and aggravated assault.
Nearly five years after the homicides, the case against Jaives Fountain went to trial. In March 2026, a Bibb County jury acquitted him of all charges. According to the Macon District Attorney's Office, the acquittal was the result of the court excluding "critical evidence" collected by law enforcement. The suppressed evidence was reportedly a recorded call in which Fountain allegedly admitted to the shootings. The defense argued it was a private conversation recorded without his knowledge.
The acquittal had significant consequences for the prosecution of the second suspect. In August 2026, the Macon District Attorney's Office dismissed all charges against Trequan Fox. The office stated that the suppression of the key evidence in Fountain’s trial left the case against Fox unwinnable. As of August 2026, the murders of Quinterious Hillman and Jerod Lester remain unsolved.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact the Bibb Sheriff’s Office at 478-751-7500 or Macon Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-877-68CRIME.
