MACON, Ga. — Macon-Bibb County has officially hit 50 homicides so far in 2022 with 3 gun violence victims dying within 24 hours Sunday.
This comes as the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office responded to a total of 7 separate shootings just this weekend that injured 8 people.
Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones says the death of Jermaine Stewart, a Rodeo Bar and Grill security guard, marks Macon's 50th homicide in 2022, with still over three and half months left in the year.
Stewart, who was 47-years-old, was shot in the head at the Pio Nono Avenue nightclub at around 4 a.m. Saturday.
The Sheriff’s Office says there was a fight involving several people who were asked to leave the bar.
While the people were leaving, deputies say shots were fired, hitting the security guard.
The Sheriff's Office is also investigating two other homicides this weekend.
Deputies say another man was shot, and he was taken to the hospital. He's currently listed in stable condition.
A couple hours later, the Sheriff's Office say they responded to another shooting at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday.
42-year-old Stephen Brown was found shot while in his truck at the corner of Cowan and Smith streets. Brown was pronounced dead on the scene.
County leaders responded to the homicides Sunday.
"I am just completely disturbed," said Coroner Leon Jones. "This is a city that I love. We can't seem to stop it. We can't seem to slow it down. You can't blame it on the Mayor. It's unfair to blame it on the Sheriff's Office... I say it all the time... this is all just anger and conflict."
Jones says he canceled a scheduled Stop the Violence rally at 5 p.m. Sunday in front of Bentley and Sons Funeral Home on Montpelier Avenue. "I just needed to sit out and pray. That's all I can do," Jones said.
Mayor Lester Miller also sent a statement via text:
"The number of murders in our community this year is horrific and unacceptable. I am outraged that time and time again, we hear about another life lost, about another family that will be grieving.
As Mayor, I am doing everything in my power to fund law enforcement and programs to help turn this epidemic around. We have made an unprecedented investment in this effort, and that work will take time.
Meanwhile, we need to make sure the people who are preying on our community are caught and kept in jail. Our community deserves nothing less. Our families deserve to live in safe neighborhoods."
If you have any information, call the Bibb Sheriff’s Office at 478-751 -7500 or Macon Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-877-68CRIME.
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