Update: Macon teen shot early Tuesday had just been acquitted of murder in October

A teenager found not guilty a month ago in a murder trial is among the victims Tuesday in a fatal apartment complex shooting police are investigating in West Macon.

Police say it is too early to know if the two events are connected.

In October, Deshond Jah’Ryon Willis of Macon was acquitted of the 2020 murder of Damond Stevens. A jury found there wasn’t enough evidence to convict him of the homicide.

Now, just over a month after that trial, Willis is dead.

Willis, 18, was among three dead, along with one critically wounded, in a shooting early Tuesday at an apartment complex in west Macon, according to a press release from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office.

The shootings happened about 1:30 a.m. at building 10 of the West Club Apartments at 159 Steven Drive, which runs between Mercer University Drive and Columbus Road.

The others killed Tuesday, Marcelles Williams and Tishoun Williams, have no known connection to the murder Willis was accused of in 2020. The 14-year-old boy that was critically wounded was not identified by the sheriff’s office.

The murder Willis was accused of 2020 also involved Jacorey Holloway, who was shot along with Stevens but survived. Holloway identified Willis out of a photo lineup prior to the trial, according to an attorney, and also testified in court.

The Tuesday shootings bring Macon’s homicide total this year to 65.

This story was originally published December 6, 2022 at 12:11 PM.