In the spring of 2021, the discovery of a young man's body at an illegal dumping site in Macon, Georgia, began to unravel a complex story of violence and potential retribution. On the morning of May 7, a person taking their daily walk in the Unionville neighborhood stumbled upon the body of 26-year-old Amond Rashad Norwood, who was found deceased under a mattress at the end of Churchill Street.
An investigation by the Bibb County Sheriff's Office quickly determined that Norwood had sustained multiple gunshot wounds and that the location where he was found was not the scene of the crime.
The investigation into the death of the male victim led to the swift identification and arrest of three suspects. The first to be taken into custody was 45-year-old Margaton Achilles Dudley, who was arrested and charged with murder and concealing the death of another. Shortly after, a second suspect, 28-year-old Jerome Dewayne Beasley, turned himself in to authorities after learning he was being sought. He faced the same charges of murder and concealing a death. The third individual charged in Norwood's death was 26-year-old Damian Devonta Felton Sr. Investigators believe a fight broke out during a dice game, which led to Beasley allegedly shooting Norwood. It is alleged that the three men then attempted to burn his body before leaving it under the mattress.
The narrative took another dark turn, suggesting a cycle of violence possibly linked to gang activity. Roughly a year after Norwood's death, one of his accused killers, Damian Felton, was shot and killed in the front yard of his Harold Street home in May 2022. His death occurred less than 12 hours after he had been released from jail on bond. Just two days following Felton's murder, Norwood's half-brother, Orondo Cortez Clark, was gunned down. Investigators have stated they believe Clark's death could have been an act of retaliation for Felton's killing, an attempt to 'even the score.' As of May 2023, the two surviving suspects in Amond Norwood's murder, Margaton Dudley and Jerome Beasley, were indicted and awaiting trial, and had been released on bond. The murders of both Damian Felton and Orondo Cortez Clark remain open investigations.
