ATHENS, GA - On Monday, June 6, 2011, at approximately 6:15 a.m., Carlotta Shields Appling (age 40) was shot and killed by an intruder at her residence, located in Jefferson, Jackson County, Georgia. Investigation revealed that Anthony Tyrone Appling (age 42), who was identified as Carlotta Appling’s estranged husband, forcefully entered her residence and shot her.

Appling fled the scene in the victim’s 2008 gray Chevrolet Impala, which was later found abandoned on the side of Spring Valley Road in Athens, Clarke County, Georgia. Shortly after the incident, a murder warrant was issued for Anthony Tyrone Appling in Jackson County.  Throughout the day, Officers from the Athens-Clarke County Police Department and other surrounding law enforcement agencies attempted to locate Appling by following up information and leads as to his whereabouts.
 
At approximately 3:00 p.m., Officers received information that Anthony Tyrone Appling was located in a residential area behind the Clarke Central High School.  Officers from the Athens-Clarke County Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Athens Field Office responded to the location and spoke to Appling by phone. Appling was with a local attorney at the time. At approximately 3:20 p.m., Appling died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Both decedents are being transported to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab for autopsies.

The investigation is continuing. 

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Contact Information:

Special Agent in Charge Jim Fullington, GBI Athens -706-552-2309; Jefferson Chief of Police Joe Wirthman - (706) 367-5231