Ocilla, Irwin County, Georgia (June 27, 2024) - The GBI has arrested and charged Earl Wilcox III age 16, of Ocilla, Irwin County, Georgia with 1 count of Felony Murder and 1 count of Aggravated Assault in connection to the shooting death of a 14-year-old Marcaulen Downs.

On Monday, June 24, 2024, at about 6:50 p.m., the Georgia Bureau of Investigation received a request for investigative assistance from the Ocilla Police Department in reference to a shooting involving a minor on Frank Road in Ocilla. Downs was taken to Irwin County Hospital for a gunshot wound & pronounced dead when he arrived.

Wilcox is being detained at a Regional Youth Detention Center.


This investigation is active and on going. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the GBI regional investigative office in Perry at 478-987-4545. 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.

Once the investigation is complete, the case file will be given to the Tift Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office for prosecution.

Contact

Special Agent in Charge Jerry Jones