Gerard Foster, a 52-year-old man, was found shot multiple times in the breezeway of his Robins Street apartment complex in Decatur, Georgia, on July 6, 2016. Foster, a deacon at Living Water Christian Baptist Church, was discovered with gunshot wounds to his head, neck, and chest. He was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries shortly after arrival.
Investigators were initially without a clear motive for the slaying of the beloved church deacon and father of seven. Witnesses reported hearing gunshots and seeing a car speed away from the scene. Surveillance footage captured a man, later identified as Jacob Pyne, fleeing the area with a female accomplice. Tips from the public eventually led law enforcement to Knoxville, Tennessee, where Pyne, then 23, was apprehended. Another suspect, Christonya Section, was also taken into custody in connection with the murder.
Authorities believe the shooting was a random act of violence, with the assailant lashing out at Foster as they passed each other on the apartment steps. In October 2016, both Pyne and Section were indicted on murder charges. In June 2017, a jury found Jacob Pyne guilty of murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and weapons offenses. He was sentenced in July of that same year.
