On a tragic afternoon in Fleming, Georgia, 64-year-old Montez Smith Bacon lost her life in an incident that initially appeared to be a car accident. On March 3, 2017, law enforcement and emergency services responded to a call at the Fleming Short Stop convenience store on Highway 196. Witnesses had reported that a car had struck a small structure at the gas station. Upon arrival, first responders found Montez Bacon unresponsive in the driver's seat of her vehicle. She was rushed to the Liberty County Regional Medical Center, where she was later pronounced dead.
What seemed like a simple accident soon revealed a more sinister story. An autopsy revealed that Montez Bacon's cause of death was a gunshot wound to her right shoulder. Investigators found a. 380-caliber bullet during the examination. Witnesses at the scene reported seeing a man, later identified as Montez's son, Nicholas Bacon, exit the back seat of the car after it crashed and casually walk away with a backpack. This immediately raised suspicions and shifted the focus of the investigation from an accident to a homicide.
Nicholas Bacon was quickly apprehended by a Liberty County deputy while walking away from the scene. He was found to be in possession of a. 380 caliber pistol. Further investigation, including analysis of a shell casing found in the vehicle and the bullet recovered from the victim, confirmed that the weapon in Nicholas Bacon's possession was the one used in the shooting. He was subsequently arrested and charged with the murder of his mother.
During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence of a domestic incident between Nicholas and Montez Bacon earlier that day in Savannah. The defense claimed the shooting was an accident, with Nicholas Bacon testifying that the gun discharged unintentionally. However, a jury found him guilty of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Nicholas Bacon was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
