In the quiet community of Appling, Georgia, the evening of April 22, 2016, was shattered by a shocking act of violence that claimed the lives of five people, including 62-year-old Shelly Williams. The tragedy unfolded at two separate locations, leaving a lasting scar on the close-knit town.
The perpetrator was identified as 50-year-old Wayne Anthony Hawes, a man described by his own daughter as a 'ticking time bomb.' The violent spree was rooted in a domestic dispute.
Hawes first went to a home on Johnson Drive where he shot and killed Roosevelt Burns, 75, Rheba Mae Dent, 85, and Trequilla Aisha “Kelia” Clark, 30.
Less than an hour later, Hawes continued his rampage at a residence on Washington Road, the home of Shelly Williams and his 59-year-old wife, Lizzy Williams. There, he fatally shot the couple. Witnesses at the second location reported seeing a man leave the Williams' home in a car before a relative entered the house and began screaming for someone to call 911.
Following the shootings, law enforcement launched a search for Hawes. He was found deceased in his own garage from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Investigators believe he had attempted to set his home on fire before taking his own life. The entire event, the largest killing spree in Columbia County's history, left the community of Appling in a state of shock and mourning.
