‘Help me! They shot me:’ 3 found guilty of luring 19-year-old GA man to his death

FORT OGLETHORPE, Ga. — Three suspects have learned their fate after they were convicted in the death of a 19-year-old man murdered in 2021.

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According to court evidence, the victim, 19-year-old Jaylon Eberhardt, of Ft. Oglethorpe, had several minor disagreements with 20-year-old Keonte Ragland, which led to a physical fight between the two.

On Sept. 23, 2021, Keonte Ragland, his sister Deonna Ragland,19, and their two friends, Keishann Rowe, 20, and Malachi Housley were talking and smoking weed at the Ragland’s home in Catoosa Gardens apartments.

While at the apartment, officials said they noticed Eberhardt walking through the complex and viewed his appearance as a sign of disrespect to the Raglands.

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The Catoosa County District Attorney’s Office said, the siblings, along with Rowe and Housley plotted to lure the victim back to the apartments that evening and murder him.

Deonna Ragland- then 16, sent the victim a Snapchat message and agreed to meet him at the apartment’s playground, the DA said. Eberhardt began walking from his home at the Oglethorpe Ridge apartments to the Catoosa Gardens apartments believing he would be meeting Deonna Ragland.

Unbeknownst to the victim, Keonte Ragland had told Rowe and Hosley to ambush Eberhardt and kill him, officials said.

Evidence showed that Deonna Ragland was simultaneously sending messages to the victim and texting Rowe and Housley to let them know exactly where Eberhardt would be.

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Once the victim arrived at the playground, Deonna Ragland told him she wouldn’t be coming out. As the victim began walking back home, Rowe and Housley began to follow him. The DA said that’s when Housley shot Eberhardt in the back and leg. R

Rowe and Housley ran away and threw the gun in a grassy area near the apartment complex.

After the victim was shot, he yelled, “Help me; they shot me,” before collapsing on a Catoosa County law enforcement officer’s doorstep, where he died.

The DA said after Eberhardt died, his family told authorities he had been communicating with Deonna Ragland. When detectives interviewed, Deonna and Keonte Ragland, they denied any knowledge of Eberhard’s death. Investigators later found the gun used in the murder.

Shortly thereafter, Housley confessed to his role in the murder. He pleaded guilty to felony murder and aggravated assault in June 2023. He was sentenced to serve life in prison.

After a week-long trial, Rowe, Keonte and Deonna Ragland were convicted of felony murder and aggravated assault. A judge sentenced all three to life in prison at the Georgia Department of Corrections.

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