Deaths on train track near homeless camp spark safety concern, Macon coroner says

Two people have reportedly died by suicide on a railroad near a make-shift encampment in downtown Macon this year, but no efforts have been made to increase safety or move the camp to a safer place, according to the Bibb County Coroner’s Office.

Kenneth Kelly, 59, died on Saturday, and Richard Allen Disbro, 33, died on Feb. 13, Coroner Leon Jones said. Both were allegedly struck by trains.

At least six people were seen still living in six make-shift tented canopies among mosquitoes, stagnant puddles of mucky water, litter and scrap metal Wednesday morning. The wooden and concrete yard, which is vacant aside from the encampment, sits behind Burger King and Chevron gas station on Riverside Drive and Spring Street.

Only a few minor obstacles separate the tent city, which sits on a short hill, from the train tracks at the bottom of the slope. This includes a 2-foot-tall metal guardrail and bushes around the hill edge, and a rocky trail down the hill that’s about 200 feet long and is walkable.

Some people who now live there previously lived at a camp a half-mile away, which was behind a vacant plaza and QuikTrip gas station on Emory Highway and North Avenue, according to Jones.

They moved to the “large homeless camp” behind Burger King when Macon-Bibb County Code Enforcement swept the other camp away, Jones said.

“Its the same camp that Code Enforcement ran them away from,” he said. “All they did was move over there behind the Burger King. It is a huge homeless camp behind the Burger King.”

Code Enforcement has the authority to cite people who sleep on private premises or place property on someone else’s property without consent, according to Macon’s municipal code.

United to End Homelessness by United Way of Central Georgia regularly attempts to offer resources at the site before Code Enforcement gets involved, according to Rev. Jake Hall, executive director of the nonprofit.

“We pay attention to the tents and make-shift structures, and seek to move folks along to emergency shelter and housing resources,” Hall said.

But in some instances, Code Enforcement and other Bibb County entities will take action first, according to Hall and Chris Floore, chief communications officer for Bibb County.

“At times, if an encampment impacts private property in a destructive way law enforcement or Code Enforcement will take point,” Hall said.

For example, fires have broke out in the area, which prompted the Macon-Bibb County Fire Department to tend to the scene, Floore said.

“They were showing a multitude of open fires back in the trees,” Floore said.

United Way has also attempted to offer services to Kelly, who died Saturday, but he denied assistance, Hall said.

“That’s an encampment we have had social services coordinated through United to End Homelessness go through routinely the past several years,” Floore said. “It’s also been a site that’s been cleaned multiple times to remove overwhelming amounts of trash and human waste.”

Deaths are uncommon at homeless encampments in Macon, but Jones hopes the county takes action before another person dies on the tracks. He’s not sure what action should be taken, but United Way and Code Enforcement are meant to oversee these situations.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Jones said. “I’m a hometown boy. I love my city … I will never forget who I am, where I come from.”

This story was originally published June 11, 2025 at 1:54 PM.