On the evening of January 23, 2021, 33-year-old Alex Bernard Tolbert was found shot to death at the Budget Inn in Madison, Georgia. The incident, which occurred at approximately 8:30 p.m., left Tolbert with multiple gunshot wounds. Investigators at the scene discovered Tolbert's body partially obstructing the entrance to the hotel room where he resided. They recovered fourteen.
22-caliber shell casings and three bullets from the room.
The investigation quickly centered on Adrian Darnyell Weston as a person of interest due to a known history of conflict with Tolbert. This animosity included a previous altercation in May 2019, during which Tolbert had stabbed Weston, leading to Tolbert's arrest. On the day of the murder, witnesses overheard Weston expressing his intent to kill Tolbert and saw him leaving a location with a gun. Further evidence linking Weston to the crime came from the discovery of shell casings at a residence where he stayed that matched those found at the murder scene.
Following the shooting, Weston fled the state, prompting a manhunt. The U.S. Marshals Service and the GBI Milledgeville Office publicly sought assistance in locating him, offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. After months of searching, authorities successfully apprehended the 41-year-old Weston in Chanute, Kansas. He was subsequently extradited back to Georgia to face charges.
In March 2021, a Morgan County grand jury indicted Weston for malice murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault. A jury found Weston guilty on all counts in November 2022. The court sentenced him to life in prison without parole for the malice murder of Alex Tolbert, with the other charges either merging or being vacated. Weston later filed a motion for a new trial, which was denied by the trial court in April 2024. The Supreme Court of Georgia subsequently reviewed and affirmed his conviction, concluding that the circumstantial evidence presented at trial was sufficient to support the guilty verdict.
