In the late afternoon of February 19, 2019, a sense of unease settled over a neighborhood in Thomson, Georgia. Officers from the Thomson Police Department were dispatched to a residence on Boulevard Drive around 5:15 PM following a report of a shooting. Inside the home, they discovered the body of 35-year-old Norris McCord Jr., an African American male who had been fatally shot.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called in to lead the homicide investigation, working in conjunction with the Thomson Police Department and the McDuffie County Sheriff's Office.
The investigation quickly zeroed in on a suspect: 27-year-old Paul Jones Jr., also of Thomson. Authorities believed that Jones had shot McCord inside the residence. A warrant for his arrest on the charge of murder was promptly issued. For a couple of days, Jones was considered armed and dangerous, and law enforcement sought the public's help in locating him. The search came to a peaceful end on February 21, 2019, when Paul Jones Jr. surrendered to authorities at the Department of Community Supervision Office in Thomson. He was taken into custody and booked into the McDuffie County Jail.
The death of Norris McCord Jr. reverberated through the Thomson community. He was remembered by loved ones as a father and friend with a warm and positive personality. His violent death also sparked conversations within the community about the issue of gun violence. As the legal process against Paul Jones Jr. began, the community watched closely, seeking justice for a life cut short. The case highlighted the collaborative efforts of local and state law enforcement in responding to and investigating violent crime. An autopsy was scheduled to be performed at the GBI Medical Examiner's Office in Decatur to formally determine the cause and manner of death.
