He called the cops to the homicide scene. Now, he’s charged with murder

A 53-year-old man who called police to the scene of a homicide Wednesday evening is now charged with murder, according to a Bibb County deputy sheriff’s report.

Phillip Rozier Sr. was among those crowded around the crime scene tape that cordoned off a house at 967 Elder Street, where the body of 67-year-old Jimmie Lee Daniel was found in the kitchen, the report said.

Daniel had “a shocked expression on his face and both hands up in the defensive position,” the report said. There was dried blood by his foot.

When a deputy asked the crowd who called 911, a man with a goatee came forward identifying himself as Rozier, the report said.

Rozier told police he stayed at Daniel’s house from time to time, alleging the 67-year-old “has different groups of people over at the house, that he does not know them, and that he smokes, ‘that stuff.’ ” the report said.

Rozier was charged with murder in Daniel’s death within 24 hours, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. He remained at large Thursday afternoon.

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 Ave. 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, records show.

It’s not the first homicide on Elder Street.

On March 8, 2015, Thomas Knighton was found dead with his throat cut in the same 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. Authorities are still seeking persons of interest in Knighton’s killing.

Like Daniel, Knighton also was the county’s fourth homicide victim of the year.

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 1:45 PM with the headline "He called the cops to the homicide scene. Now, he’s charged with murder."