UPDATE: Woman found shot dead in parking lot at vacant office on Thomaston Road in west Macon
The body of a transgender woman who had been shot to death was found lying in a parking lot Friday morning at a vacant office building in western Bibb County, officials said.
The victim, who as of early afternoon had not been identified, was believed to be in her late 20s or early 30s, said Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones.
The body was discovered shortly before 9:30 a.m. at 6211 Thomaston Road, the former home of Reaves Software, just west of Price Road and not far from the southern entrance to the Lake Wildwood subdivision.
The slain woman is the county’s 66th homicide victim of 2022.
Sheriff’s officials said in a statement that the death “occurred in the parking,” which lies down a slight slope from Thomaston Road about a mile due west of Interstate 475.
Further details were not immediately available.
Jones, the coroner, sought the public’s help to identify the dead woman, who was Black and said to be about 5 feet, 9 inches tall.
The victim weighed 160 pounds, had braided hair and wore a diamond-like earring in her right ear. There were two plastic-bead bracelets on her right wrist. She had no tattoos.
UPDATE on Dec. 13: The victim, after her family confirmed their identity on Dec. 12, was identified by sheriff’s officials as Destin Howard, 23, of Macon.
This story was originally published December 9, 2022 at 11:49 AM.