Third suspect in Friday murders turns himself in

ALBANY — While both cases remain under investigation by Albany Police Department officials, all three suspects charged with murder in a pair of shooting deaths Friday night are now in custody.

APD spokeswoman Phyllis Banks said Sunday that Brandon Brown, who was wanted in the fatal shooting of Michael Taylor, who tried Friday to break up a fight between Brown and King Barber Jr. at the 1905 S. Madison St. June Bug’s convenience store, had turned himself in late Saturday at the downtown Law Enforcement center.

“Last night (Saturday) at approximately 11 p.m., Brandon Brown turned himself in at the LEC,” Banks wrote in a news release. “Brown was accompanied by his family. All three homicide suspects are in the Dougherty County Jail but remain under investigation.”

In addition to Brown and Barber, Jammie Davis was also arrested on a murder warrant for the shooting death of Latravius Burks, also Friday night. In what police describe as a domestic dispute that involved the mother of Davis’ children, who was Burks’ current girlfriend, Davis was also charged with cruelty to children in the third degree.

Both Davis and Barber turned themselves in Saturday.

Witnesses said that Davis shot and killed Burks in a domestic dispute that occurred at 8:45 p.m. Friday at 417 Hickory Lane. At the time of the Burks homicide, Albany police officers were already investigating the 7:36 p.m. shooting of 26-year-old Taylor who, witnesses said, tried to break up an altercation between Brown and Barber at June Bug’s.

An APD release Saturday said that officers from the department’s Uniform, Detectives, Gang Unit and I-Dent divisions, as well as Dougherty sheriff’s deputies and Dougherty County Police officers, responded to 417 Hickory Lane in reference to a shooting. Upon arrival, the victim, Burks, was found on the front porch with gunshot wounds to his chest and stomach area.

Witnesses said Davis came to the location to see his children. Their mother reported that when the children went outside to see Davis, she called her new boyfriend, Burks, to warn him Davis was there. She told police that Davis was known to start trouble.

A short time later, she heard several gunshots from the outside of her house, and her children ran back inside. She went to the front door and found the victim lying on the porch with a wound in his chest area. Burks was treated at the scene by EMS and transported to Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital for additional medical attention but died from his injuries.

Officers from APD’s Uniform and Detectives divisions, its Gang Unit, Dougherty Sheriff’s deputies, and DCP responded, along with EMS, in response to the shooting at June Bug’s. Once on the scene, the victim was found on the inside of the business with a gunshot wound to the chest area. Witnesses reported the two suspects, Brown and Barber, were fighting inside the store and Taylor tried to break up the fight.

Both suspects drew handguns, fired at each other and Taylor was shot during the exchange of gunfire.