Macon man found dead in open doorway

A 46-year-old Macon man was found dead Tuesday morning in his open doorway, prompting a Bibb County sheriff's investigation.

A groundskeeper at Brookhaven Townhomes found Marschon Prater unresponsive, face down, about 7 a.m.

Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones pronounced Prater dead at 7:45 a.m.

Investigators roped off the parking lot around Apartment 31, where Prater was found.

He had no visible sign of injury, said Deputy Linda Howard, a Bibb sheriff's public affairs officer.

Prater's pickup was missing, and he was overdue for a medical appointment. That led investigators to take a closer look to determine if Prater was the victim of foul play.

By 9:30 a.m., after investigators talked to Prater's mother, the truck was found and had not been stolen, but the probe continues, Howard said Tuesday afternoon.

A lien had been place on the vehicle and it was repossessed overnight, she said.

Deputy Coroner Lonnie Miley said Prater had a medical history and may have died of natural causes, but an autopsy has been requested to be sure.

In May 2009, Prater's younger brother, Kelvin Prater, was killed in a domestic double-homicide in Macon.

The 34-year-old was shot multiple times while in bed with Melody Marie Benoit in her home on Vivian Drive.

Kenneth Stokes, Benoit's estranged boyfriend and father of one of her children, pleaded guilty in the slaying and was sentenced to two simultaneous life sentences.

Information from The Telegraph archives contributed to this report. To contact writer Liz Fabian, call 744-4303 and follow her on Twitter@liz_lines.

This story was originally published March 29, 2016 at 4:03 PM with the headline "Macon man found dead in open doorway ."