In the late evening hours of August 8, 2024, the life of 49-year-old Terrell Hernandez Howell of Columbus, Georgia, was tragically cut short by an act of gun violence in Thomaston. The male victim was at a gathering at 914 Prater Street in the Lincoln Park community, where he and several others were engaged in a card game inside an outbuilding on the property. Without warning, a gunman appeared at the doorway and opened fire into the building before fleeing the scene. When deputies arrived at approximately 10:20 p.m., they discovered Howell inside the outbuilding, where he was pronounced dead at the scene.
A second victim, the 53-year-old property owner, Johnathan Bernard Holston of Thomaston, was found outside in the yard with a gunshot wound to his abdomen. Holston was airlifted to a trauma center in critical condition. The Upson County Sheriff's Office, with assistance from the Thomaston Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, immediately launched an investigation into the deadly shooting.
The investigation led authorities to a suspect, and on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, 19-year-old Chasyn Mayfield of Flovilla, Georgia, was arrested at his residence by Butts County deputies on a warrant from Upson County. Mayfield was subsequently charged with the murder of Terrell Hernandez Howell and is being held in the Upson County Jail without bond. Law enforcement officials have indicated that the investigation is active and ongoing, and that other charges may be forthcoming. Anyone with further information regarding the case is encouraged to contact the authorities.
