A 27-year-old Decatur County man was arrested Monday afternoon and charged with murder in the Sunday shooting death of 47-year-old John Jefferson Gray of Decatur County.
Capt. Chip Nix, chief investigator for the Decatur County Sheriff’s Office, said William Philip Mosley II, 27, was arrested at his home at 455 N. Griffin Ave. in Attapulgus.
According to a booking report from the Decatur County Jail, Mosley was charged with one count of felony murder and one count of failure to appear — original charge no insurance.
Between 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sunday morning, Gray was found dead outside a farm shed at 429 N. Griffin Ave. in Attapulgus, where he and his brother, Bert Gray, ran a 316-acre hunting preserve, Decatur County Sheriff Wiley Griffin said.
Bert Gray found the body and called 911, Griffin said. The Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Unit, led by Capt. Gale Bowyer, responded to the scene. It was apparent that John Gray had been shot to death, Griffin said.
Nix said that investigators conducted an exhaustive search at the hunting preserve for a potential murder weapon Monday morning, and located a shotgun several hours later.
Nix said investigators also talked to several witnesses, and interviewed Mosley himself, before making the arrest Monday.
“At this time we can’t say anything specific about what was discussed in those interviews,” Nix said. “This case is still being investigated.”
Nix said Mosley lived approximately a quarter of a mile from the Gray’s residence, and said Gray and Mosley were “known to be friends.”
An autopsy was scheduled to be conducted Tuesday morning at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab in Macon, Ga. Sheriff’s Investigator Cheryl Roberts is the lead investigator in the case, Griffin said.
Managing Editor Justin Schuver contributed to this story.