In a quiet Elberton, Georgia community, the life of 86-year-old Otha Perrin, a beloved church deacon and former school bus driver, came to a tragic and unexpected end in January 2018. The story began to unfold when his own granddaughter, 19-year-old Savannah Jennings, with whom he lived, reported him missing on a Sunday. However, the narrative she presented quickly unraveled when another family member approached the Elbert County Sheriff's Office the following day, expressing that 'something
isn't right' about the situation.
Under further questioning, Jennings' account of her grandfather's disappearance began to conflict, and she eventually admitted to being untruthful. This admission led investigators to a grim discovery on Monday, January 8, 2018: Mr. Perrin's body was recovered from a farm pond behind a home. An investigation determined that the elderly man had died from multiple gunshot wounds. Near the pond where his body was found, authorities also located a. 22 caliber rifle. The community, particularly members of Bethel Grove Baptist Church where Perrin served as an elder deacon, was left in shock and mourning for a man described as kind enough to give the shirt off his back.
The investigation swiftly led to the arrests of three teenagers. Savannah Jennings was charged with murder, aggravated assault, and concealing the death of another. Also arrested were 19-year-old William David Peterson of Athens and 18-year-old Dakota Scott Street of Elbert County. Peterson faced murder charges, while Street was charged with concealing a death. It was revealed that Jennings was the biological granddaughter of Otha Perrin's late wife, and he had continued to care for her after his wife's passing.
In August 2019, an Elbert County jury took just one hour and 40 minutes to convict Savanna Jennings on seven charges, including malice murder and felony murder. During her trial, Jennings had undergone a psychiatric evaluation but was found competent to stand trial. She was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Her two co-defendants, William Peterson and Dakota Street, pleaded guilty prior to her trial and testified against her. In March 2024, the Georgia Supreme Court upheld Jennings' conviction and sentence, bringing a legal conclusion to the heartbreaking case of Otha Perrin's murder at the hands of his own step-granddaughter and her accomplices.
