Victim identified; killer sought after body found in same duplex as unsolved homicide

The search is on for a 53-year-old accused killer in the second homicide in as many years at an east Macon duplex.

Bibb County sheriff’s deputies are looking for Phillip Lance Rozier Sr. in the shooting death of a 67-year-old man whose body was found just before 5:30 p.m. Wednesday inside his home at 967 Elder Street.

Bibb County coroner Leon Jones identified the victim Thursday morning as Jimmie Lee Daniel.

Deputies were called to the Fort Hill neighborhood after a neighbor spotted Daniels’ body through the window of his house.

The duplex is one of two that sit down off Elder Street, which forms a circle off Hall Street and Hart Avenue.

A half-dozen other duplexes are across the street, but most of them are boarded up and vacant.

Thursday morning as nearby neighbors began milling about, crime scene tape was still up around the brick, one-story building where Daniel lived.

A man living on the next street said he heard gunfire, but did not recall exactly what time.

“I heard shooting. I don’t know if it was yesterday or the day before,” said the neighbor, who did not want to give his name. “I hear shooting around here all the time.”

Another man living down the street said he had seen Daniel walking back and forth to his house, but did not know much about him.

Investigators identified Rozier as the prime suspect early in the investigation, according to a news release from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office.

Rozier is on probation stemming from an aggravated assault conviction. He pleaded guilty to the charge in April 2012 in connection with a 2010 attempted robbery at Flash Foods, 2793 Montpelier Avenue in Macon, according to Bibb County Superior Court records.

An indictment alleged Rozier pointed a handgun at the clerk and demanded money.

Rozier was sentenced to 10 years on probation and to serve a stint in a probation detention center, according to court records.

On March 8, 2015, Thomas Knighton was found dead with his throat cut in the same Elder Street duplex.

Deputies asked the public’s help finding a person of interest in that case, but apparently no one has been arrested in Knighton’s killing.

Knighton had not been seen for a couple days before his body was found on the floor of his apartment.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office at 478-751-7500 or Macon Regional Crimestoppers at 877-68-CRIME.

This story was originally published February 23, 2017 at 8:39 AM with the headline "Victim identified; killer sought after body found in same duplex as unsolved homicide."