A Barrow County man is facing murder charges after authorities said he shot and killed his mother and stepfather in their home last week.
Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith said Wednesday that the suspect has been identified as Cody Donavan Jones, age 35. Jones, who was also injured in the incident on the morning of Thursday, February 8, is currently being treated at an undisclosed hospital under the guard of the sheriff's office.
"When we arrived, we came in contact with Cody Jones," Smith said. "He was very distraught in the home. He did have gunshot wounds to him, injuries that were sustained in the incident."
When deputies went through the house, they found Susan Denise Arvold, age 66, and Michael Alan Arvold, age 64, dead inside. Jones was taken from the scene by medical personnel.
Smith said they were later able to identify him as the suspect in the case and issue charges against him of malice murder.
"It took some time for us to piece together what we thought happened," Smith said. "It was a domestic (incident)...the argument started with the mother and then the stepdad kind of intervened and it kind of went down from there."
Smith said investigators have had limited opportunities to speak with Jones due to his injuries. He said it's unclear at this point how Jones suffered his gunshot wound.
"Initially we thought it might have been self-inflicted, but we're not sure if Mr. Arvold had returned fire to him," Smith said. "We're still trying to determine that with ballistics that we have and firearms that were found at the scene."
Smith said once Jones is released from the hospital, he will be arrested and charged with two counts of malice murder.
