In the early morning hours of Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 2015, the body of 43-year-old Bobby Owens was discovered in front of an apartment building on Oak Forest Lane in Savannah, Georgia. Responding to a call at approximately 7:40 a.m., Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police officers found the male victim deceased at the scene. The discovery cast a somber shadow over the holiday as detectives and forensic teams began their investigation into the circumstances of his death.
As the investigation progressed, authorities swiftly identified a suspect in the homicide. An arrest warrant was issued for Johnathan Maurice Gibbs, an 18-year-old male. For several months, Gibbs remained at large, with police seeking the public's assistance in locating him. He was described as being 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighing around 130 pounds, and was considered armed and dangerous. He was known to frequent areas around Park and Waters avenues, as well as the Oak Forest Apartment complex where the incident occurred.
The search for the suspect came to an end on Tuesday, March 15, 2016. Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department's Violent Crimes detectives, acting on a tip, located Jonathan Maurice Gibbs in the K-Mart parking lot on Montgomery Crossroad. Southside Precinct officers apprehended him without incident, finding a firearm in his possession at the time of the arrest. Gibbs was taken into custody and transported to the Chatham County Detention Center. He faced multiple charges, including one count of murder in connection to the death of Bobby Owens. Additional charges included obstruction by giving a false name, carrying a firearm without a permit, and a probation violation.
