PERRY, Ga. — A man was arrested in the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Mason Holt in a Perry residential neighborhood, according to a press release from the Perry Police Department.
The release said Perry man Travis Santia Bunkley, 18, was arrested and charged on Wednesday in Holt's shooting in a residential area near Creekwood Traffic Park.
"When something like this occurs, we will put all resources we can to solve it," Perry Police Chief Alan Everidge said.
Holt was found lying in the street, suffering multiple gunshot wounds at Ida Lassater Circle at around 6:30 p.m. on Monday.
Everidge said technology and old-fashioned investigative work led them to the suspect.
"The basic gist: a lot of hard work by a dedicated team of investigators," Everidge said.
At this point, they believe the shooting started as a robbery that eventually ended in Holt's death. Everidge said that once the robbery started, they didn't know what led to fatal shots being fired.
They also suspect that the shooting may have begun as a drug deal gone wrong, but they are working to fully prove that. At this point, they also have some indication that Holt and Bunkley were "familiar" with one another.
"We're not 100% sure why he killed him, but we have some reason to believe," Everidge said.
What ultimately led to authorities honing in on Bunkley were interviews with community members and surveillance footage from the crime scene. Everidge said investigators used surveillance footage to figure out which direction the assailant went and what happened during the crime.
When they started looking at Bunkley on Wednesday, Everidge said that they secured a search warrant that would uncover evidence that they believe was connected to Holt's shooting.
Thanks to the work of his investigators, Everidge says they were able to put Bunkley behind bars and make an arrest in Holt's murder. He's also charged with aggravated assault, armed robbery and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
However, the case is still under investigation. If you have any information, you are asked to Detective Ike Wilcox at 478-988-2800.
"I think the Perry community needs to know that we take all crimes seriously," Everidge said. "We're going to try to solve every crime."