William Lamar “Shane” Horne, 49, a White male from Augusta, Georgia, died in the dark hours before dawn on November 27, 2024, inside the Mystic Lane home he shared with his wife, Carol McMillon Horne. Deputies were called there at about 2:37 a.m. after a shooting was reported, and when they reached the house they found both William and Carol suffering from fatal gunshot wounds.
The coroner's office later said the couple was pronounced dead at the scene at about 3:20 a.m., turning what should have been the quiet start of the Thanksgiving holiday into a double homicide that devastated one family under a single roof.
Investigators quickly identified William's brother, Tony Brooks Horne, as the suspect. He was arrested at the scene and accused of killing both William and Carol. Early reports said Tony had been charged with two counts of murder and two counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a crime, while later court proceedings showed the case growing into a fuller prosecution built around the allegation that he had gunned down his brother and sister-in-law inside the home they all occupied. Accounts from the case described the residence as a tense and troubled place, and prosecutors later pointed to writings and messages from Carol that they said reflected fear and strain inside the household before the killings.
The case did not stall after the arrest. Tony Brooks Horne's trial began on a Monday, and two days later a Richmond County jury found him guilty on all charges. According to court filings and reporting on the verdict, the jury convicted him of two counts of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, and two counts of possessing a firearm while committing a felony. What began as a shocking family shooting in late November 2024 ended in a courtroom finding that the deaths were not unexplained violence, but murders for which William's own brother was held criminally responsible.
The punishment that followed was severe and final. Tony Brooks Horne, reported as 47 at sentencing, received two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for the murder convictions, along with 10 additional consecutive years for the firearm counts. So the known arc of William Horne's case moved from a predawn shooting on Mystic Lane, to an arrest at the scene, to a conviction and sentence that ensures the man found guilty in his death will spend the rest of his life in prison.
