Three more charged with murder in Fort Valley child death

FORT VALLEY -- Three more men have been charged with murder in the shooting death of an 8-year-old boy.

A total of five are now charged with murder in the death of Jai’mel Anderson, who was shot through the door of an apartment as he watched TV early Tuesday morning.

At a community vigil held at the apartment complex Saturday afternoon, Fort Valley Public Safety Director Lawrence Spurgeon handed out a release giving the names of the additional suspects. They were all taken into custody Friday night and are in the Peach County jail. Spurgeon declined to give any additional details of the investigation, including the suspected motive or to state who did the actual shooting.

“We will be releasing details of it, but right now our main concern is to make sure we’ve got a successful prosecution,” he said.

Jeremy Quillan Jackson, 24, Antonio Garvin, 20, and Kristian Jamal Wipfel, 21, all of Macon, are charged with felony murder.

The arrests were made in Bibb County by Fort Valley police, the Peach County Drug Enforcement Unit and the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force.

Earlier Friday, 25-year-old Dennis Eason, of Fort Valley, and 21-year-old Tevin Sams, of Lizella, were arrested on charges of felony murder in connection with the case. Eason, who was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama, was also charged with terroristic threats.

Shortly before the shooting, Eason allegedly sent a threatening text message De’Jad Williams, the 22-year-old boyfriend of Jai’mel’s mother. Williams told The Telegraph he thought it was someone playing a joke and didn’t worry about it.

Based on evidence found in the apartment following the shooting, Williams was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and probation violation.

Spurgeon said the investigation is ongoing and he did not rule out further arrests.

“It is our intention to arrest and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone who conspired, assisted or facilitated with any aspect of this horrible crime,” he said in the release.

He credited the arrests to good cooperation among numerous law enforcement agencies.

The shooting happened at Indian Oaks Apartments. About 200 people attended a community gathering and cookout in the rear of the complex Saturday to mourn Jai’mel and discuss ways to stop violence in the community.

Telegraph archives were used in this report.

To contact writer Wayne Crenshaw, call 256-9725.

This story was originally published January 10, 2015 at 4:08 PM with the headline "Three more charged with murder in Fort Valley child death ."