Twin of convicted killer accused of another slaying at same bar

People say Abbeville twins Ronnie Lee Young and Lonnie Deon Young are identical. And there are striking similarities between the two crimes — nearly two years apart — that have them behind bars.

While 27-year-old Lonnie Young is serving time in Smith State Prison for voluntary manslaughter in Fitzgerald, Ronnie Young is in the Ben Hill County jail, accused of killing a man in the same location early Saturday.

“It’s almost the same thing. It’s eerily similar,” said James Tilley, a Fitzgerald police detective who worked both cases.

Just before 2 a.m. Saturday, police say, Ronnie Young opened fire outside Club Staxxx on Airline Road and fatally wounded 33-year-old Marcus Edwards once in the chest. A total of seven shots were fired, Tilley said.

On May 25, 2008, Lonnie Young shot 28-year-old Willie Gilbert multiple times outside the club when it was used as the American Legion Post 536, Tilley said.

In both instances, a fight inside the bar spilled outside and erupted into gunfire, he said.

The latest killing followed an earlier incident “where someone felt disrespected” by someone throwing money around in the club, Tilley said. An argument began and escalated until the parties took it outside.

The brothers’ mug shots were taken years apart and clearly show differences in appearance, but that’s misleading, said the lawman who has dealt with both.

“You wouldn’t know the difference between the two,” Tilley said.

The Youngs’ uncle said he could always tell them apart, but he hasn’t seen them much since he recently moved back to Ben Hill County from Florida.

“Those young people, I don’t mess with them. I’m 72 years old. I ain’t got time for that,” John H. Young said. “You know how young people, they like to go clubbing, and I’m too old for that.”

Hattie Mae Young, who married into the family, said the twins’ mother doesn’t want to talk about their predicament.

“I don’t know what gets wrong with these kids these days,” she said. “It’s just the devil’s business.”

Both brothers had prior brushes with the law in Ben Hill County. The Georgia Department of Corrections Web site shows Ronnie Young was convicted of drug charges in 2004 and burglary in 2002. Lonnie Young had a 2001 cocaine conviction before he was sent to prison for voluntary manslaughter in the 2008 case.

To contact writer Liz Fabian, call 744-4303.