In the quiet community of Mount Airy, Georgia, a long-simmering dispute between two neighbors erupted into a shocking act of violence that left both men dead. On Wednesday, March 25, 2015, 68-year-old Ronald 'Ronnie' Ramey was fatally shot while working on a fence in his yard on Key Road. The retired truck driver was a married father and grandfather.
Responding to a call for assistance just after 1:00 p.m., emergency services discovered Ramey with a gunshot wound.
He was rushed to Habersham Medical Center but ultimately succumbed to his injuries. The investigation into his death quickly led authorities across the street to the home of his 77-year-old neighbor, Hershel Key.
Behind his residence, law enforcement found Key deceased from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called in to assist the Habersham County Sheriff's Office with the case. Neighbors reported that the two men had been embroiled in an ongoing dispute, a detail that became central to the investigation.
Days later, the investigation concluded, with the Habersham County Sheriff declaring the incident a murder-suicide. Authorities determined that Hershel Key had used a. 30-30 rifle to shoot Ronald Ramey from his own front yard. After fatally wounding his neighbor, Key then took his own life with a 12-gauge shotgun in his backyard. With the perpetrator deceased, the investigation into Ronald Ramey's death was closed.
