In the early morning hours of May 15, 2020, the bodies of 32-year-old Jaymie Whitlock and 27-year-old James Robert Evans were discovered by a passing motorist in the middle of Thurman Baccus Road, a rural road in Social Circle, Georgia. Both Whitlock and Evans had been shot to death. The investigation by the Social Circle Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation revealed that Whitlock and Evans had been taken from a residence in Monroe, Georgia, and driven to the location where their bodies were later found. They were reportedly still in their pajamas when they were killed.
The subsequent investigation led to the arrests of four individuals in connection with the double homicide. The first suspect to be charged was Tommy Charles Webb, Jr., who was 19 or 20 years old at the time and from Athens. He was already in custody on a probation violation when he was charged with murder. Three other suspects were later arrested and charged. They were identified as Antavius Teazia Wilcox, 23, of Savannah; Omar Marsh, 26, of Gainesville; and Elicia Rivera, 36, also of Gainesville. One of the suspects was known to the victims, although authorities did not specify which one.
The charges brought against the four suspects were extensive and varied. Webb and Wilcox faced the most severe charges, including murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act. Marsh and Rivera were charged with being a party to the crime of murder, with Marsh also facing gang-related and firearm charges. At the time of his arrest in the double homicide, Wilcox was already being held in the Chatham County jail for an unrelated murder in Savannah that occurred in April 2020.
During a preliminary hearing for Webb, Marsh, and Rivera in July 2020, further details of the case emerged. An investigator testified that Webb had been identified as having a conflict with Evans. It was also revealed that Elicia Rivera had come forward to the police, describing her presence with the other suspects during the murders, though she claimed she did not participate. According to her statement, after the killings, the group stopped at a convenience store where she was sent inside, and she expressed fear that the others might have been discussing whether to kill her as well. Following this hearing, a judge found probable cause to send the cases against Webb, Marsh, and Rivera to trial.
