In the early morning hours of Friday, September 21, 2018, the quiet of a Butts County subdivision was disturbed by a grim discovery. A 911 call at approximately 6:13 a.m. led authorities to the entrance of the Jackson Glenn Subdivision on Highway 36 West in Jackson, Georgia. There, they found the body of a man, later identified as 31-year-old Curtis Author Pitts of Cartersville, who had sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Investigators quickly determined that the homicide had likely occurred elsewhere and that Pitts had been left at that location. There appeared to be no connection between Pitts and the subdivision where he was found.
The Butts County Sheriff's Office, along with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, launched a homicide investigation. The case progressed swiftly as detectives from both Butts and Bartow counties worked together to piece together the events leading to Pitts's death. Their investigation led them to two suspects, Steven Alford Jacobs and Emmanuel James Nesbitt, both residents of Cartersville. The arrests were made in Bartow County just a day after Pitts's body was discovered.
Authorities believe the motive for the murder was an 'apparent robbery.' Investigators stated that the suspects became aware that Pitts was allegedly in possession of drugs and cash. It is believed that at some point, either before or after traveling to Butts County, Jacobs and Nesbitt shot Pitts to death, stole his drugs and money, and abandoned his body on the roadside. Both men were charged with murder and aggravated assault. Following their arrests, they were scheduled for initial court appearances to face drug-related charges in Bartow County before being transferred to Butts County to be arraigned on the murder and aggravated assault charges. The investigation revealed that neither the victim nor the suspects had any ties to the Butts County community.
