In the small community of Ivey, Georgia, a friendship of nearly a decade came to a violent and tragic end on the night of March 23, 2021. David Wesley Lawson, a 28-year-old man from McIntyre, was found shot to death inside his car on North Lake Shore Drive. The news of his death sent ripples of shock and grief through the community, where he was known as a kind and generous person, always willing to lend a hand.
Lawson was a father to two young sons and was engaged to be married.
The investigation into Lawson's death quickly focused on his close friend, 31-year-old Christopher Dale Tiggs. The two had been inseparable, sharing a passion for racing dirt bikes and even living together at one point. On the night of the shooting, the two were involved in a heated argument, reportedly over the trivial matter of whose friend owned a faster four-wheeler. This senseless dispute escalated, culminating in Tiggs fatally shooting Lawson. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called to the scene, and their preliminary findings led to the arrest of Tiggs the following day. He was taken into custody and booked at the Wilkinson County Detention Center.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Lawson's family was left to grapple with the devastating loss of a beloved son, brother, and father, a man they remember as always having a smile on his face. The fact that his life was taken by someone he considered a brother amplified their pain and confusion. Christopher Tiggs was initially charged with murder and felony obstruction.
The legal proceedings that followed brought some measure of closure, though not without further heartbreak for Lawson's loved ones. In September 2022, just before his trial was set to begin, Christopher Tiggs accepted a plea deal. He pleaded 'guilty but mentally ill' to voluntary manslaughter. The plea agreement resulted in a sentence of 30 years in prison, to be followed by 10 years of probation. For his actions at the county jail after his arrest, which included damaging a security camera and a sprinkler head, Tiggs received an additional 10 years in prison and 10 years of probation for felony obstruction of an officer and criminal interference with government property. While the legal process concluded, the family of David Wesley Lawson continues to mourn the senseless loss of a man who was a pillar of their lives.
