BERRIEN CO. – A man from Homerville was convicted by a Clinch County jury on felony murder charges and sentenced to life in prison.

Release:

Alapaha Judicial Circuit District Attorney Chase L. Studstill has announced that Johnny Leroy Marshall, Jr., age 47, of Homerville, Georgia, was convicted by a Clinch County jury on May 21, 2023, on felony charges of Malice Murder, Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, Kidnapping and Possession of a Firearm by a convicted felon. Marshall was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus an additional five years by the Honorable Dane Perkins who presided over the trial.

The charges in this case were brought after hunters discovered the body of Otis Monroe on Tate Road on January 6, 2018, in Clinch County. Agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation were called and immediately began working the case and discovered that Marshall had been accusing Monroe and others of taking money and narcotics from him. He and an accomplice then took Monroe in an SUV from a Homerville residence to a location on Bird Road in Clinch County. There, Marshall shot Monroe in the leg. Dr. Gaffney-Kraft, a medical examiner for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, testified that the projectile traveled through one of Monroe’s legs into the other shattering his femur. Marshall then forced Monroe back into SUV where he was taken to the Tate Road location. There, Marshall shot Monroe in the chest. Dr. Gaffney-Kraft testified that the second projectile was the cause of death of Mr. Monroe. She further testified that Monroe had wounds to his face that were consistent with being beaten with the butt of a gun. In a powerful closing statement, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Smith told the jury, “Johnny Marshall left Otis Monroe on Tate Road while over two liters of blood filled his lungs. He left him there to die.”

Special agents Cyrus Purdiman, Joe Hilton, Jason Nipper, and Seth Hullander collected shell casings and projectiles from the Bird and Tate Road locations and, along with a projectile and shell casings collected from outside and inside the home of Marshall sent the items to the GBI crime lab for testing. Catherine Jordan, a firearms and ballistics specialist with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab, testified that the shell casings and projectiles were fired from the same gun.

District Attorney Chase L. Studstill stated, “I want to thank the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for their hard work and professionalism in investigating this case. In particular, I would like to thank special agents Cyrus Purdiman and Joe Hilton in finally bringing justice to Mr. Monroe and his family. These agents are not recognized enough for their work and attention to detail. The Clinch County Sheriff’s office also assisted in this case and kept people in our office and in the courtroom protected during the trial. I would also like to thank a number of people in my office who worked on this case over the last several years. Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Smith was lead counsel in this case and assisted during the trial by Chief Assistant District Attorney J. Allen Lawson. Our Cook County administrative assistant Alyson Bridges assisted them and was invaluable during the preparation and presentation of the case. Our Clinch County Administrative Assistant, Joann Bell and Victim Assistant Ina Thomas remained in communication with the family over the years as well as during the trial and assisted in caring for the family during the trial as well as caring for our prosecutors and other witnesses. Our investigators Ronnie Thompson and Frank Swanson were also invaluable in tracking down witnesses and documents in an effort to prepare this case for trial. We have an excellent team here and work with some excellent agencies. This was a brutal and senseless killing. As Ms. Smith stated in her closing, ‘Otis Monroe died over a couple hundred dollars and an eight ball of meth.’ We shouldn’t tolerate this in the Alapaha Judicial Circuit. My office will continue to make every effort to work with the various law enforcement agencies in our circuit and try to bring justice to our citizens.”