GBI Arrests 4 teens and 1 adult in Atkinson County teenager’s murder investigation

By Carol A. Gasser Moore

 

PEARSON, Atkinson County, Georgia – Five people have been arrested and charged in connection to a death in Pearson.  Darion Davis (16) of Pearson has died, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).  Those arrested include:

 

• A fifteen (15)-year-old from Pearson, charged with Malice Murder, Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Aggravated Battery.
• A fourteen (14)-year-old from Pearson, charged with Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Aggravated Battery.
• A sixteen (16)-year-old from Pearson, charged with Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Aggravated Battery.
• Verntron White (17), of Pearson, charged with Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Aggravated Battery.
• Ta’shunika Jones (21) of Pearson, charged with Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Aggravated Battery.

 

Information from the GBI states that on Monday, October 21, the Atkinson County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) requested the GBI to conduct a death investigation after receiving information about a person dying at a Savannah hospital.  The death is said to have occurred following an alleged assault that took place on Saturday, October 12.

 

As they investigated, GBI agents discovered a video of a fight in which the suspects were beating Davis. During the fight, the 15-year-old grabbed a pipe and hit Davis multiple times.

 

It was several days after the beating that Davis was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries.

 

The GBI Medical Examiner’s Office in Decatur, Georgia, will complete an autopsy to determine the exact cause and manner of death.

 

White and Jones were booked into the Atkinson County Jail. White (17) is charged as an adult.  The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice has custody of the minor teens – 14, 15, and 16.

 

The GBI asks that if anyone with information about this event, please contact the Atkinson County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) at (912) 422-3611 or the GBI’s regional investigative office in Douglas at (912) 389-4103.

 

Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.

 

According to the GBI, once the investigation is complete, the case file will be given to the Alapaha Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review and potential prosecution.