3 dead, 1 injured

Posted in Related Deaths

3-26-2012 Georgia:

MOULTRIE — A Colquitt County man was one of three people fatally shot early Monday morning at a residence near the Colquitt-Tift County line in what is believed a murder/suicide.

The Observer has learned that Darrell Dewayne Ward, 42, one of those who died at the Innis Road residence, lived a short distance from the location where the shootings took place.

Tift County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Bobby Brannen confirmed earlier Monday that three people were dead at the residence, located off U.S. Highway 319 South near Omega.

Tift County’s 911 center received a call shortly before 6:30 a.m. about a person being shot, Brannen said.

A fourth person was transported by air for emergency medical treatment.

Brannen did not release any additional information, and the other fatalities have not been identified. It is believed, but not confirmed, that two of the dead are related to the woman who was air lifted, possibly mother and father.

Ward had moved back and forth between Colquitt and Tift counties since his release in April 2007 after he served nearly 10 years at Autry State Prison in Pelham, authorities said. He pleaded guilty Oct. 31, 1997, to the rape of a Lowndes County woman and began serving his sentence in state prison in December of that year.

On Jan. 15, Ward changed his sex-offender registration to Colquitt County from Tift County, after having moved from here to Tift County in 2010.

In a plea arrangement on the rape charge in Lowndes County, counts of false imprisonment, aggravated stalking and burglary were dismissed at the time he pleaded to the rape charge, District Attorney David Miller said.

The Georgia State Patrol charged Ward in July 2010 in Colquitt County with driving under the influence, failure to maintain lane, failure to provide assistance and driving without a license on his person. It was not immediately known whether those charges had been disposed of. ..Source.. by Alan Mauldin

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GBI: Ward was shooter in murder-suicide

3-27-2012:

TIFTON — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation Sylvester Office and the Tift County Sheriff’s Office began a joint investigation at 7:30 a.m. Monday into a murder/suicide that occurred in Tift County, the GBI reported.

Kim Baker, special agent in charge, provided a press release Tuesday stating that two adults discovered deceased inside the residence located at 103 Iniss Road in Tifton have been identified as James Williams Peters Sr., approximately 57 years of age, and Shirley Ann Peters, approximately 53 years of age. Both had sustained what appeared to be gunshot wounds.

A third person also found deceased at the residence was identified as Darrell Dewayne Ward, approximately 43 years of age, who had sustained a gunshot wound to the chest.

So far, the crime scene examination and interviews conducted by the GBI and the Tift County authorities indicate that sometime after 10 p.m. Sunday, Ward drove to the Peters’ residence, armed with a handgun, and mortally wounded James and Shirley Peters, shot their daughter and then fatally shot himself. The daughter is expected to recover from the injuries that she sustained during the attack.

The bodies of the deceased are being transported to the GBI Crime Lab for autopsies.

The investigation by the GBI, TCSO and the Tift County Coroner’s Office continues.

Ward had moved back and forth between Colquitt and Tift counties since his release in April 2007 after he served nearly 10 years at Autry State Prison in Pelham, authorities said. He pleaded guilty Oct. 31, 1997 to the rape of a Lowndes County woman and began serving his sentence in state prison in December of that year.

On Jan. 15, Ward changed his sex-offender registration to Colquitt County from Tift County, after having moved from Colquitt County to Tift County in 2010.

In a plea arrangement on the rape charge in Lowndes County, counts of false imprisonment, aggravated stalking and burglary were dismissed at the time he pleaded to the rape charge, District Attorney David Miller said.

The GSP charged Ward in July 2010 in Colquitt County with driving under the influence, failure to maintain lane, failure to provide assistance and driving without a license on his person. It was not immediately known whether those charges had been disposed of. ..Source.. by The Tifton Gazette CNHI