In the summer of 2024, the life of 29-year-old Antwone Shalmar Lay of Athens, Georgia, was cut tragically short. His body was discovered near the intersection of Antioch Church Road and Gus Barnett Road in Nicholson, within Jackson County. He had been fatally shot in the parking lot of the Antioch United Methodist Church.
The investigation into the male victim's death, led by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation at the request of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, soon began to piece
together his final hours. It is believed that Lay was picked up by a vehicle in the Nellie B neighborhood of Athens and then driven to the church parking lot where his life was violently ended. Investigators determined that the motive for the killing was a robbery, with the assailants targeting Lay for Percocet pills and marijuana.
The investigation led to the arrests of two suspects. The first to be apprehended was William Austin, a 31-year-old from Jefferson. He was charged with a litany of serious crimes, including murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and tampering with evidence. A subsequent 16-count indictment was filed against him, to which he has pleaded not guilty. While in custody, further investigation into the contents of his phone led to additional charges of sexual exploitation of children.
A second suspect, 37-year-old Delvin Duran Buckles, was also taken into custody in connection with Lay's murder. Buckles, identified as a purported street gang member, was arrested at the Clarke Gardens apartment complex and booked into the Jackson County Jail on charges of murder and other felonies related to the incident. The case against the accused is set to be prosecuted by the Piedmont Judicial Circuit.
