PUTNAM COUNTY, Ga. — A murder investigation in Monticello led deputies into a deadly standoff in Putnam County.
Just before 9 p.m. Sunday night, Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills got a call to look for a murder suspect, which is what led him to the house near Eatonton.
According to the GBI, 41-year-old Kira Ammons of Monticello died after she was shot by her ex, James David Mathis, at about 8:30 p.m. Sunday.
Sills said, "My radio room received a look out from the Jasper County Sheriff's office round 8:37 yesterday evening."
Jasper County Sheriff Donnie Pope believed 38-year-old Mathis was headed to his house near Eatonton in a Black Ford pickup truck.
Then, Putnam County deputies got to Mathis' house shortly after.
"He was inside," said Sills. "He wasn't coming out, didn't believe he was going to come out."
Sills headed to Glenwood Springs Road.
"While I was on the way there, deputies called in that shots were fired," said Sills.
Sills arrived shortly after that and tried texting and calling Mathis, but he says the suspect shot himself.
"I went behind the house and was trying to get the man to come out and surrender," said Sills. "I repeatedly requested him to do so."
A family member told Sills that Mathis had threatened to kill himself earlier.
Sills said, "At that point in time, I decided to look around the property, and we found the body."
According to Sills, Mathis died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and was found next to what is suspected to be the weapon used to kill Ammons.
The bodies of Ammons and Mathis will be sent to the GBI Crime Lab for autopsies.