One dead, two charged with murder after south Macon gunfire

Two men were arrested Saturday and charged with murder in connection with the Friday night shooting death of 24-year-old Tarus Fair.

Quintavious Hutchings, 23, of Macon, and Tony Ellis, 42, reportedly fired shots at each other after getting into an argument about 11:30 p.m. at 446 Cynthia Ave., not far from the intersection of Broadway and Eisenhower Parkway, according to a news release from the Bibb County Sheriff's Office. During the gunfire, Fair, of Macon, was struck by a bullet.

Shortly after the shots were called in to 911, Fair died from gunshot wounds at the Medical Center, Navicent Health, after being dropped off by an unknown person, the release said.

Yellow crime scene tape stretched between a stop sign and a light pole outside a house at the intersection of Cynthia Avenue and Chappell Street on Saturday afternoon. About a dozen people milled about in the street near Plaza Mart on Houston Avenue, just down the road from the shooting scene.

Victor Hiley, 51, sat in the shade of a tree outside his home in the 2000 block of Cedar Street.

Hiley said he was asleep and didn't hear a shot but learned about the slaying an hour later from a family member.

"(Fair) was like a nephew to me. My family raised him," Hiley said. "I don't know exactly what happened there, I know it's messed up though. ... It's really sad how he got killed."

Hiley said Fair, a graduate of Central High School, was smart and made good grades but had recently been "hanging on the corner" with a troubled crowd. Hiley said he tried to encourage Fair to join the military.

"Tarus was a good guy. He wasn't no violent person," Hiley said. "It just really hurt me due to the fact he wasn't no type of guy like that. ... I ain't never known him to do nothing illegal, but he hung in that area."

Mary Gay, 70, said she raised Fair since he was 2 days old. Gay said Fair was shot near his childhood stomping grounds.

"He didn't carry no knife, he didn't carry no gun, he didn't argue with nobody or nothing," Gay said of her adopted son. Fair, who was unemployed, lived with his girlfriend and was raising his 6-month-old and 1-year-old children, Gay said.

"He was looking forward to trying to get him a job to help take care of those kids," Gay said. "They love him to death. ... (Fair) was a good boy. He didn't get in no trouble or nothing. He didn't even argue with anybody. He was just as quiet as he could be."

Hutchings and Ellis are each charged with felony murder in connection with Fair's death. The investigation is continuing and anyone with information about the crime is urged to contact the Bibb County Sheriff's Office at 751-7500, or call Macon Regional Crimestoppers at 877-68CRIME.

To contact writer Laura Corley, call 744-4334 and follow her on Twitter @Lauraecor.

This story was originally published March 19, 2016 at 8:40 PM with the headline "One dead, two charged with murder after south Macon gunfire ."