Report: Lizella teen shot dead after aiming pistol at man during gun swap

New details emerged Thursday in the death of a Lizella teenager who was shot and killed at a double-wide trailer in western Bibb County early Wednesday.

The developments in the death of 16-year-old Chase Gillis were gleaned from statements that two young men who were with Gillis made to a sheriff’s deputy soon after Gillis died.

The men’s accounts — noted in the Bibb deputy’s write-up of the wee-hours episode off Knoxville Road on the county’s west side — describe a self-defense scenario in which Gillis was killed after aiming a Glock 19 handgun at one of the men.

According to the deputy’s report, 19-year-old Logan Nettles said Gillis had gone to Nettles’ trailer at 156 Briar Creek Trail sometime after midnight to swap guns with him:

“Logan stated that he had been texting with Chase Gillis about trading a Glock pistol for an AR-15. Logan stated that Chase came over to make the trade. Logan stated that he let Chase in the house. Logan stated that when he let Chase in, Chase cocked the pistol and pointed it to (Logan’s) head.”

When that happened, Nettles said his friend, David Billingsley, 23, shot Gillis with a gun that the report describes as an “AR pistol.”

The deputy later spoke to Billingsley, who was said to have described a similar series of events.

“David stated that Logan let in Chase and that when Chase came in (Chase) put a Glock up to Logan’s head,” the report said. “David stated that he had a AR pistol on him and was able to shoot Chase.”

According to Billingsley’s account, he and Nettles ran into some woods behind the trailer, where Billingsley took the pistol used to shoot Gillis and tossed it in a storm drain.

The young men called Billingsley’s mother, Pamela Jackson, and she met them as they walked along nearby U.S. 80, a few miles west of Interstate 475.

Just after 2 a.m., the report said, Jackson drove Nettles and her son to the Bibb sheriff’s office in downtown Macon to talk to a deputy.

As of Thursday evening, no arrests had been made in the case.

This story was originally published July 13, 2017 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Report: Lizella teen shot dead after aiming pistol at man during gun swap."