Man charged with murder after 19-year-old Georgia Southern student shot to death while sleeping

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ga. — A 31-year-old Georgia man has been arrested in connection to the death of a 19-year-old who was shot and killed last year.

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Khia Shields, 19, of Wrens, was killed in the early morning hours on Aug. 26, 2023, just days after her birthday. Jefferson County deputies said Shields was asleep on a sofa in her mother’s home when a gunshot came through the wall and hit her.

Her mother, Shereka Pitts, told WJBF that she walked into her room with a gunshot wound to her chest.

“She was laying on the sofa and I remember jumping up and I remember her coming into my bedroom with her hands held out and she was like ‘Mommy, mommy, I’ve been shot,’” Pitts said.

Shields was rushed to a hospital in Augusta but later died from her injuries. Shields was a sophomore at Georgia Southern University. She graduated with honors from Jefferson County High School in May 2022.

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On Monday, Jefferson County investigators along with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation charged Jessie Louis Brown, Jr., 31, of Augusta with the murder of Shields.

Brown was booked into the Jefferson County Jail.

Officials said the investigation is ongoing with more arrests possible. Anyone with information about this case is urged to contact the JCSO Criminal Investigation Division at 478-625-7538 or the GBI at 706-595-2575.

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