In the early hours of a Friday morning in Macon, Georgia, the life of 60-year-old Stacey Van Battle was tragically cut short in a burst of violence that also claimed the life of another man. On May 29, 2020, just after midnight, Bibb County Sheriff's deputies were called to a residence on Fair Street, where they discovered a grim scene. Both Van Battle and 49-year-old Derrick Howard had been shot.
According to witness accounts, an argument had broken out between two men at the location. The verbal altercation took a deadly turn when a third individual, later identified as 23-year-old Anthony Whitehead, approached the pair and brandished a firearm. Whitehead allegedly opened fire, striking both Van Battle and Howard. Van Battle, a resident of Macon, was pronounced dead at the scene, having sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Emergency responders performed CPR on Howard before rushing him to a local hospital, but his injuries proved to be fatal, and he died shortly after arrival.
The investigation into the double homicide moved swiftly, and later that same day, Bibb County Sheriff's Office investigators arrested Anthony Whitehead in connection with the fatal shootings. He was taken into custody and subsequently charged with two counts of murder. At the time of his arrest, Whitehead was also facing a separate charge for a state court probation violation. He was booked into the Bibb County Law Enforcement Center where he was held without bond. The case against Anthony Whitehead is pending in the Bibb County court system.
