In the early morning hours of March 28, 2023, tragedy struck in Augusta, Georgia, when 13-year-old Buddy Brown Jr. was fatally shot. A seventh-grade student at W.S. Hornsby Middle School, Buddy was at his family's residence at the Richmond Summit Apartments on Broad Street. Just after midnight, he went downstairs to collect a DoorDash food delivery he had ordered from a nearby McDonald's.
It was a routine act for the teenager, but one that would end in unimaginable violence.
According to his father, Buddy had said he would be right back. However, he never returned. Richmond County Sheriff's deputies, who were patrolling the area, heard a gunshot around 3 a.m. A short time later, they discovered the young male unresponsive outside the apartment building. He had sustained at least one gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene. His family, who described him as a joyful and loving boy who enjoyed playing video games and spending time with them, was left devastated by the sudden and senseless loss. In the days that followed, they held a balloon release in his honor, pleading for justice and an end to gun violence.
The investigation into Buddy's death led authorities to identify two suspects: 30-year-old Gregory Louis Thornton and his accomplice, Tia Shante Jackson. Believed to have been staying in Augusta at the time of the shooting, Thornton, a resident of Baltimore, Maryland, quickly fled the state. A manhunt ensued, and after eluding capture in Maryland, Thornton was eventually apprehended by U.S. Marshals in Fayetteville, Pennsylvania, on May 3, 2023. He was subsequently extradited back to Augusta in early June to face charges of murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Tia Shante Jackson was also taken into custody in West Virginia in April of the same year. She faces charges of murder and other offenses in connection with the shooting death of Buddy Brown Jr. While arrests have been made, the motive behind the tragic killing of the 13-year-old has not been publicly released by law enforcement. The case against both Thornton and Jackson is proceeding through the legal system.
