MURRAY COUNTY, Georgia — A 25-year-old man from Calhoun, Georgia, is suspected of shooting a teenager at a weekend party in Murray County.
Agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) and the Murray County Sheriff’s Office arrested Anthony Wilkinson in the death of Jeffrey Tyler Ray.
According to a Facebook post from the Murray County Sheriff’s Office, officers responded to reports of shots fired off Sexton Road around 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning.
They found that two people had been shot. Jeffrey Tyler Ray was taken to a nearby hospital and later died from his injuries.
The other person who was shot in the face is expected to recover.
On Wednesday, we spoke to Ray’s family members and friends in his hometown of Adairsville about what happened.
They told us that a fight broke out at the weekend party and Tyler ran over to investigate and was shot in the chest.
“They didn’t even know he had been shot at first. He just said, ‘I think I’ve been shot.’ And that was the last thing he said.”
When we asked if parents were supervising the party, they said they didn’t know. We hope GBI investigators can shed some light on the matter.
They told us that this was only the second “big party” Tyler had attended and that he was really excited to go.
Tyler’s brother Erin says…
“He had just graduated from high school, got his first job and his first paycheck. He was better off than me or my brother.”
But it only took one night to change that. Angela White, Tyler’s mother, says…
“If they had known, they wouldn’t have been there. They just came to the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Angela says Tyler tried to run away when the shots were fired, but…
“He couldn’t walk because he couldn’t breathe. So they laid him down. He had been shot in the side and I guess his lung was punctured.”
On Tuesday, the GBI and the Murray County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of 25-year-old Anthony Wilkinson in connection with Tyler’s murder.
“Let us seek justice and healing instead of vengeance and violence. My brother’s life mattered,” says Erin.
For now, Tyler’s mother still hasn’t been granted a final glimpse of her son.
“They haven’t gotten his body back yet. I haven’t even seen him yet.”
As for his friends…
“We have a little circle, I would call it. Tyler is like the sun in the circle. We’ve taken care of Tyler a lot.”
Count on us to keep you updated.
