In the late hours of a September night in Atlanta, Georgia, 25-year-old Tiara Bogan Jones, a mother of two, was driving her SUV with two friends after finishing her shift at the airport. Shortly before 1 a.m. on September 26, 2015, a vehicle pulled alongside hers near Hank Aaron Drive and Milton Avenue, and shots were fired. A bullet struck Tiara in the face, causing her to lose control of her vehicle, which then crashed and overturned. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Her two passengers, a man and a woman, were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries from the crash.
Family members and law enforcement believe that Tiara was not the intended target of the shooting. It is thought that the male passenger in her vehicle was the actual target. After leaving a late meal at a local restaurant, Tiara's vehicle was followed before the fatal shots were fired.
The investigation into the shooting led to the arrests of three men. In November 2015, police arrested 26-year-old Kelvin Watts and 21-year-old Bobby Hardy. Both were charged with murder, aggravated assault, and aggravated battery. Just four days before the shooting, Watts had been released from jail after being held on charges of probation violation, aggravated assault, and a weapons violation. The following month, in December 2015, the third suspect, 20-year-old Jamal Ward, was arrested and also charged with murder and aggravated assault with intent to murder.
