In the quiet coastal community of Darien, Georgia, the life of 39-year-old Johnny Edward “Jon Jon” Hall, Jr. was tragically cut short on the evening of Thursday, June 28, 2018. A lifelong resident of McIntosh County and a local business owner, Hall was a man known for his love of fishing and golfing. His life, however, would become tragically intertwined with the tumultuous marital problems of a suspended Glynn County police officer.
On that fateful evening, just after 9 p.m., McIntosh County police were dispatched to Hall's residence on Mission Drive SE following reports of gunfire. There, they discovered a grim scene. John Hall had been shot and killed outside of his home. Inside, officers found the body of 34-year-old Katie Kettles Sasser, who had also been fatally shot. The two were in a relationship, a fact that appears to have led to the violent outburst. The perpetrator was identified as Katie's estranged husband, Robert 'Corey' Sasser, a 41-year-old suspended lieutenant with the Glynn County Police Department.
The events of that night were the culmination of a period of escalating threats and violence. In the month prior to the killings, Sasser had been arrested for an alleged domestic incident at his estranged wife's home where he reportedly threatened both her life and Hall's. Despite being out on bond with orders to stay away from his wife and to not possess any firearms, Sasser's violent intentions were not deterred. On the night of the murders, after a tense exchange of gunfire with Hall, Sasser fled the scene, leading police on a low-speed chase back to his own home in neighboring Glynn County.
The pursuit ended in a tense standoff. SWAT teams were deployed and attempted to negotiate Sasser's surrender, using tear gas to try and force him from his vehicle. However, when officers were finally able to approach the truck, they found Sasser deceased inside from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. The investigation that followed also looked into whether any of Sasser's former colleagues in law enforcement may have assisted him in locating his estranged wife and Hall, as he had been ordered to stay out of Glynn County as a condition of his release. The tragic event left the small community in shock and mourning the loss of two of its members at the hands of a man sworn to protect and serve.
