Crime

Suspect who was out on bond in 2018 homicide arrested in Macon teen’s March 3 slaying

One of the two Macon men wanted in the March 3 shooting death of 16-year-old Ahmori Searcy was arrested Saturday night when cops pulled him over in Butts County.

The suspect who was caught, Zontravion Keontae Hernandez, had been out on bond on charges in a 2018 Macon slaying and armed robbery.

It was unclear where Hernandez may have been staying, but Bibb County sheriff’s officials in a statement on Monday said he was arrested after “a traffic violation” near the Monroe County line on Ga. 87.

The most recent murder charges that he faces stem from Searcy’s shooting death in a parking lot at Majestic Gardens apartments the night of March 3.

Another man sought in Searcy’s death — Vernon Deshawn Grable, 21 — remained at large.

Hernandez was being held without bond Monday at the Bibb jail, where he had until late September been incarcerated awaiting trial on a murder charge in the August 2018 shooting death of 18-year-old DaKwaun Tyre Faulks.

On Sept. 3, a judge set bond for Hernandez at $75,000, which Hernandez posted bond Sept. 25.

Joe Kovac Jr.
The Telegraph
Joe Kovac Jr. writes about local news and features for The Telegraph, with an eye for human-interest stories. Joe is a Warner Robins native and graduate of Warner Robins High. He joined the Telegraph in 1991 after graduating from the University of Georgia. As a Pulliam Fellowship recipient in 1991, Joe worked for the Indianapolis News. His stories have appeared in the Washington Post, the Seattle Times and Atlanta Magazine. He has been a Livingston Award finalist and won numerous Georgia Press Association and Georgia Associated Press awards.
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