Unionville man shot to death in Bibb County’s latest homicide

A 22-year-old Macon man was found dead Monday just a few blocks from his home.

The body of a black man with multiple gunshot wounds was found just after 9 a.m. off an alley behind a home at 195 Pansy Ave., Bibb County sheriff’s Lt. Randy Gonzalez said.

Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones identified the body as Hillard Martin of Bailey Avenue.

Jones said Martin’s mother came up to the crime scene that roped off Pansy Avenue to Elpis Street and Iris Street to Poppy Avenue as detectives and crime scene specialists gathered evidence.

Initially, Bibb County Chief Deputy Coroner Lonnie Miley said there were no obvious signs of foul play on the body, but he referred to it as a suspicious death due to where the body was found just off the alley’s pavement.

An autopsy will be performed at the GBI crime lab in Macon.

Gonzalez said someone had reported gunshots in the area after Martin’s body was found.

Blue star balloons were stuck up in the trees above the alley as officers fanned out on the streets to investigate.

More balloons were tied to a sign post near Elpis Street, where bystanders gathered at the yellow tape to get a look at the scene.

Martin’s body was found just up Pansy Avenue from the old M&M Grocery where Andre Taylor was shot to death in April.

In August, a judge denied bond for Taylor’s accused killer, Calvin Stapleton, in what authorities described as an execution-style shooting death.

This story was originally published October 2, 2017 at 10:41 AM with the headline "Unionville man shot to death in Bibb County’s latest homicide."