In the summer of 2018, the community of Tifton, Georgia, was shaken by the violent death of a local business owner. Akhtar Perveez, a 55-year-old male, was killed on July 30, 2018, during a robbery at his place of business, the Eldorado Food Mart on Highway 41. The Tift County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene at approximately 3:25 p.m. and requested the assistance of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in the death investigation. A medical examiner from the GBI later determined that Perveez's death was a homicide caused by a gunshot wound.
The investigation into the murder of Akhtar Perveez, who was also known as 'Oscar' to those in his community, led authorities to three suspects. On August 16, 2018, the GBI announced that they had secured warrants for Caleb Day, 21, Nathaniel Day, 21, and Alexis Naomi McCrary, 21. The charges against the trio included armed robbery and felony murder, with Caleb Day facing the primary murder charge while Nathaniel Day and McCrary were charged with party to the crime of felony murder. At the time the warrants were issued, Nathaniel Day was already incarcerated in the Ben Hill County Jail on an unrelated armed robbery charge.
Following the announcement of the warrants, the remaining two suspects were apprehended. Alexis McCrary turned herself in at the Tift County Jail on August 20, 2018. Two days later, on August 22, Caleb Day was arrested in Adel, located in Cook County, and was subsequently booked into the Cook County Jail before his transfer to Tift County.
The legal process for the three individuals charged in connection with Perveez's death unfolded over the following years. On October 28, 2019, just before his trial was set to begin, Nathaniel Day pleaded guilty to felony murder. He received a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole. In a bench trial held in December 2020, Caleb Day was found guilty of malice murder, felony murder, and armed robbery. On February 16, 2021, a judge sentenced him to two consecutive life sentences—one for the murder and a second for the armed robbery. The case against the third suspect, Alexis McCrary, was still pending a court date as of early 2021.
