Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley said his office is seeking information to help officers locate two men involved in an incident that ended with a fatal shooting in Eastanollee Sunday night.
Asa Terrel Wilbanks, 27, is a white male standing 5-foot-10 and weighing 200 pounds with brown hair.
Wilbanks was last seen Sunday night driving a red Pontiac G6 in the Hayes Wilbanks Road area of Eastanollee.
Shirley said deputies were called to a reported shooting at an Eastanollee residence at about 7:50 p.m. Sunday, where they located one man lying just outside the home suffering from a gunshot wound.
“EMS arrived and he was pronounced dead at that time,” Shirley said.
“We contacted our investigators, as well as the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, as well as the GBI Crime Scene Unit,” Shirley said. “My investigators, along with the GBI, Lavonia police detectives, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and Stephens County Coroner’s Office, worked into the night and developed leads through eyewitness interviews and testimony and interviews by other witnesses in adjoining counties.”
That work paid off, Shirley said.
“What we have learned so far is that an argument ensued outside the residence that led into a physical altercation over the victim’s vehicle that had been reported stolen a couple of weeks ago to the Lavonia Police Department,” Shirley said. “At some point during the physical altercation a shot was fired striking the victim, who died at the scene.”
Shirley said a long gun was used in the crime, and two individuals are wanted.
“We have identified the two individuals through interviews at the scene and others in Franklin and Hart counties,” Shirley said Monday night. “As a result of the eyewitness interviews, a murder warrant has been procured for one individual who is on the run. This investigation is still ongoing at this hour. More arrests are expected. We have entered one individual [Wilbanks] into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) for felony murder. One other individual who is with the suspect is also wanted for questioning. The suspects have left Stephens County based upon leads and other evidence that was discovered in another county. We caution law enforcement that at least one man is armed with a long gun and should be considered dangerous.”
