Macon man cited ‘hardship,’ owed over $10K in rent before allegedly killing family: records
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Judge ordered the house be dispossessed after $10,488.65 owed.
- Deputies forced entry, found two family members and two pets shot dead.
- Property owner said he was unrelated to the property.
Editor’s Note: The national suicide prevention hotline is available 24/7 and can be reached by dialing 988. More information can be found at 988lifeline.org.
The man who allegedly killed his family before the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office could evict them this week owed more than $10,000 in rent and fees, according to court records.
Since at least 2025, Ray Summers, 51, rented and lived in a house on the 1100 block of Ridgeview Circle in Lake Wildwood, a private community under a homeowner’s association in north Macon, according to Bibb County Civil & Magistrate Court records obtained by The Telegraph.
The property owner claimed Ray Summers owed $6,800 in rent costs by Dec. 22, 2025, according to a warrant to dispossess him from the house.
The Byron-based property owner, under the name People, Sales and Profit Company, was represented by an attorney. Ray Summers was not, court records showed.
Summers said he was dealing with financial struggles and responded to the claim on Jan. 6, according to the magistrate court records.
“I DENY the claim of the Plaintiff as follows: I have applied for a hardship loan to settle this and future rent. However, I could not complete the process without a copy of the eviction court paperwork. Now that I have them I can settle this within 10 days,” Summers said in the records.
Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones said Ray Summers was recently fired from his job at YKK Americas, a local zipper manufacturing company. Ray Summers worked there for about a decade, Jones said.
On Jan. 29, Judge Pamela White-Colbert ordered that he owed $10,488.65, which included $9,455.65 for monthly rent, $600 for utilities, $300 for late fees and $133 for court costs.
Therefore, White-Colbert wrote a writ of dispossession to the sheriff’s office, which allowed the plaintiff to take full possession of the property.
When deputies arrived at the Summers’ home to evict them Tuesday morning, nobody responded. Deputies said they heard gunshots inside after their arrival, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
A SWAT team later forced its way in because nobody exited the home or responded for two hours, deputies said.
Inside, they found Haliegh Summers, Ray’s 21-year-old daughter; Brande Summers, his 49-year-old wife; and their dog and cat dead from gunshot wounds, according to the Bibb County coroner’s and sheriff’s offices.
Summers tried to kill himself but was still alive, deputies said. He was transported to a local hospital and later died of his injuries.
According to the Georgia Secretary of State, People, Sales and Profit Company was formed in 2007 and is based out of Byron.
When reached for comment Thursday, the CEO/CFO said they did not own the Lake Wildwood home and didn’t know why records showed it was connected to their company.
The Telegraph was unable to contact relatives of the Summers family prior to publication.
