In the pre-dawn hours of a late September morning, a call to law enforcement about a car accident on Highway 301 South would soon unfold into a double homicide investigation in Sylvania, Georgia. Brandon Counts, a 30-year-old male, was discovered inside a vehicle on September 27, 2025, with a fatal gunshot wound. The initial report of a car crash proved to be a grim misinterpretation of the scene that authorities encountered.
When Screven County Sheriff's deputies arrived at the location, a few miles beyond the Sylvania city limits, they found Brandon Counts and another man, Leon Tolbert Jr., also 30 years old and from Sylvania, inside the car. Both men had been shot. While Tolbert was pronounced dead at the scene, Counts was rushed to a local hospital for emergency treatment but ultimately succumbed to his injuries shortly after arrival. The Georgia State Patrol, after assessing the scene, determined that the vehicle had not been involved in a collision but had instead driven off the side of the road.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called in to lead the inquiry into the two deaths. A handgun was discovered within the vehicle, becoming a key piece of evidence in the unfolding investigation. The bodies of both Brandon Counts and Leon Tolbert Jr. were transported to the GBI Crime Lab in Pooler for autopsies to be performed. In the days following the discovery, family and friends of Brandon Counts gathered to remember him, expressing their grief and pleading for anyone with information to come forward. Despite their pleas and the ongoing efforts of law enforcement, the investigation into the deaths of the two men has been described as active and ongoing. To date, there has been no public announcement regarding any arrests made or the identification of any suspects in connection with the deaths of Brandon Counts and Leon Tolbert Jr.
