A month after a Georgia man was found in a ditch along a South Carolina road and later died, another Georgia man faces murder charges in the fatal shooting, the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office said.
Jarvon Stapleton — a 24-year-old man from Stonecrest, Georgia — died March 14, according to Aiken County coroner Darryl Ables. Stonecrest is located in the Atlanta area.
Earlier that day, a passer-by called the sheriff’s office after seeing Stapleton lying in a ditch on the side of Kitchings Road near Old Barnwell Road, according to a press release. This is in the Williston area of Aiken County.
Responding MPs saw that Stapleton had been shot multiple times, Ables said. The Georgia man was taken to Aiken Regional Medical Centers and then transferred to Augusta University Medical Center, where he died, according to the medical examiner. Stapleton had been shot in the hand and head.
On Friday, Barry Junior Bellinger – a 37-year-old resident of Lithonia, Georgia – was identified by the sheriff’s office as Stapleton’s killer.
Bellinger was arrested Friday by the DeKalb County Police Department and the US Marshals Service on drug and weapons charges, according to the sheriff’s office. Bellinger is being held in the DeKalb County jail pending the completion of the trial for his current Georgia charges, but he is expected to be extradited to Aiken County after that trial is completed, the sheriff’s office said.
In addition to murder, Bellinger, aka Alameen Mumin, faces charges of possession of a gun during a violent felony, kidnapping and carjacking in Aiken County, the sheriff’s office said.
Information about how Bellinger was connected to Stapleton’s death was not available, but the sheriff’s office said both men had ties to the Atlanta area.
There was no word on a motive for the shooting or why the Georgia men were in Aiken County.
No other injuries were reported.
In addition to the sheriff’s office, the coroner’s office, the DeKalb County Police Department and the US Marshals, the Williston Police Department and the Barnwell County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the investigation.
Stapleton’s family said, according to the sheriff’s office, “We express our deepest gratitude and are truly grateful to all law enforcement officers and community members who are helping bring this man to justice.
