Butts County man charged with murder in shooting of Macon mom
A Butts County man has been charged with murder in the August shooting of a mother found by her young children in their southwest Macon home.
Roderick William Chester, 32, of Jackson, was being held at the Bibb County jail without bond where he was served the warrant for murder Thursday, according to a Bibb County Sheriff’s Office news release.
The identification and arrest of Chester as the suspect in the killing of 26-year-old Morgan Smith was credited to the sheriff’s violent crime investigators.
Chester was also charged with simple battery in an unrelated case.
Just before 11 a.m. Aug. 12, sheriff’s deputies were called to Smith’s house at 2881 Walmar Drive in the Village Green neighborhood off Bloomfield Road.
“ ... A maintenance worker had arrived at the residence for repair work. He was told by one of the kids that their mom was unresponsive,” the release said.
She was found dead inside the home, Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones said. She had been shot, Jones said.
No other information was released Thursday about the killing by the sheriff’s office.
Anyone with information related to the killing is urged to contact the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office at 478-751-7500, or Macon Regional Crimestoppers at 1-877-68CRIME.
Telegraph archives were used in this report.
This story was originally published November 14, 2019 at 2:39 PM.