In the late spring of 2021, a grim discovery brought to light the tragic end of 39-year-old Lester Red Wayne Booker Jr. of Ellenwood, Georgia. An African American man, his life was cut short in a brutal act of violence that investigators believe occurred on March 28, 2021. The full story of his final days began to unravel when authorities, acting on a tip, located his remains on April 21, 2021. He was found in a shallow grave near Anvilblock Road, where it became chillingly clear that his assailants had attempted to dismember and burn his body in a desperate effort to hide their crime. An autopsy would later reveal that Booker had been shot twice in the chest and twice in the head.
The ensuing investigation into the death of Lester Booker Jr. led to the identification and arrest of four individuals. Two men, Scott Tomlin and Segaro Benton, faced the most severe charges of murder and concealing a death. Two women, Sarah Johnson and Amber Vorhies, were charged with concealing a death. The road to apprehending the suspects was a determined one. At the time the warrants were issued, Tomlin and Johnson were already incarcerated on unrelated charges. The remaining two, Vorhies and Benton, were located and taken into custody in an abandoned trailer. Investigators have suggested that the motive for this violent crime was connected to a prior dispute with Booker.
The community was left to mourn the loss of a man remembered by friends and family for his sense of humor. A funeral service was held on May 8, 2021, at the Willie A. Watkins Historic West End Chapel in Atlanta, offering a space for loved ones to grieve and remember the man whose life was so violently taken. The brutality of the crime and the calculated attempts to cover it up sent shockwaves through the community, leaving many to grapple with the senselessness of the act. The legal proceedings against the four charged individuals were closely watched as the quest for justice for Lester Red Wayne Booker Jr. began.
