In the fall of 2020, the disappearance of 47-year-old Tuck Taylor from Alma, Georgia, set in motion a grim investigation that would ultimately uncover a story of violence and betrayal. Taylor, a resident of Bacon County, was last seen by his family on Friday, October 2, 2020. When he did not return, his loved ones grew worried and reported him missing the following day.
The Bacon County Sheriff's Office initiated a missing person investigation, a search that would soon involve the Georgia Bureau of Investigation as days turned into a week with no sign of Taylor.
The search for Tuck Taylor came to a tragic end on Wednesday, October 7, 2020. Following leads developed during the investigation, law enforcement officers were directed to a remote, wooded area near West Lake Drive in Screven, located in neighboring Wayne County. It was there they made the grim discovery of Taylor's body. The cause of death was immediately apparent; he had sustained what appeared to be gunshot wounds. His body was subsequently transported to the GBI Crime Lab in Pooler for a thorough autopsy to confirm the cause and manner of his death.
As investigators worked to piece together the events leading to Taylor's death, their focus quickly shifted to identifying those responsible. The investigation led to the arrests of two young men from Alma. On the same day Taylor's body was found, GBI agents and Bacon County investigators took 25-year-old D'vonta O'Neal into custody. He was charged with felony murder, being a party to the crime of aggravated assault, and being a party to the crime of armed robbery.
A second suspect, 24-year-old Devante Batton, also from Alma, was quickly identified, and warrants were issued for his arrest on charges of felony murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery, and possession of a weapon during the commission of a crime. After a brief period as a wanted man, Batton turned himself in to the Bacon County Sheriff's Office on October 11, 2020. The investigation pointed to a violent encounter that ended with Tuck Taylor losing his life, his body left in a secluded woodland far from his home.
