Man nicknamed ‘Shoota’ gets life for double slaying at Warner Robins sports bar

A Warner Robins man was found guilty of murder Thursday for the shooting of two half-brothers at Jus One More sports bar last year.

Travis Bernard Thomas Jr., 27, of Warner Robins, was found guilty following a three-day jury trial on two counts each of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the murder, according to a Houston County District Attorney’s Office news release.

Thomas was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. He also was sentenced to five years for use of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

Kenny Odel Hart Jr., 24, and Jabrial Odeal Adams, 26, both of Warner Robins, were each shot in the chest area about 1 a.m. March 2, 2017, at the sports bar on 4993 Russell Parkway, Suite 100. According to Warner Robins police, a fight broke out in the crowded sports bar just before shots were fired.

Thomas was arrested 12 days later hiding in a house in Ridgeland, South Carolina, by U.S. marshals and Jasper County sheriff’s deputies, after an anonymous tip to Macon Regional Crimestoppers.

In the bar killing, Thomas fired several shots from a 9 mm handgun at the half-brothers, striking Adams at least three times and Hart at least once, arrest warrants said.

Thomas went by the nickname, “Shoota,” the release said.

“At the end of the day, the evidence was clear that Travis Thomas was guilty of these brutal slayings,” Assistant District Attorney Ryan W. English said in the news release. “Because of this verdict and sentence, Mr. Thomas will now spend every day for the rest of his life having to live with the decision he made that night to take the lives of the brothers.”

District Attorney George Hartwig characterized the killings as “senseless” and singled out Warner Robins police Detective Shane Mann for his work on the case and lauded others in law enforcement and in the district attorney’s office as well.

This isn’t Thomas’s first brush with the law. In December 2012, he was convicted in Florida of possession of cocaine with the intent to sell or deliver, according to an arrest warrant. Thomas was sentenced to five years probation, of which he was required to serve six months, according to Miami-Dade County, Florida, online records.

This story was originally published October 25, 2018 at 5:13 PM.