VALDOSTA — Valdosta police have released the name of a 20-year-old woman killed by gunfire Thursday afternoon.
Meanwhile, police have not officially declared the case a murder investigation but rather a suspicious death, Valdosta Police Lt. Bobbi McGraw said Friday.
Police have questioned “a person of interest” in the case, but no arrest has been made in the shooting.
Shenika Eady, 20, died after being shot, McGraw said. Officially, police have said she was shot in the torso. Word at the scene of the Tyndall Drive shooting Thursday had that she was shot in the throat.
She was alive when emergency personnel took her from the Tyndall Drive residence by ambulance. She died shortly after being transported to South Georgia Medical Center.
Police interviewed a witness inside the townhouse at the time of the shooting. As police worked the crime scene at the duplex-style 3126 Tyndall Drive townhouse, authorities were seeking a black male described as wearing gray boxers and no shirt, or gray boxers and a gray shirt. He was also reportedly covered in blood.
A person of interest was taken into custody Thursday evening and questioned in the case.
No arrest is expected until what caused the shooting can be determined, according to police.
Whether or not this case may be officially classified as a murder depends on results from Eady’s autopsy, police reported. The State Crime Lab will perform an autopsy likely early next week. Depending on the autopsy results, an arrest may or may not be warranted at that time.
Eady marked the third violent death in Valdosta this week. All three cases are unrelated.
On Wednesday afternoon, 17-year-old Brittany Wade was discovered dead in a shallow grave in the back yard of a Bunche Street residence. Jonathan Barrett, 21, is charged with the murder in this case, according to the Valdosta Police Department.
In another unrelated case, Dr. John H. “Bud” Curtis, 72, was discovered dead Monday in his 1100 Williams St. residence. Police arrested his roommate, William Mark Love, 40, and have charged him with malice murder, according to Valdosta police.
If designated as a murder, Eady’s death would be the fifth murder case in Valdosta this year, all happening within the past two months. All of the cases are unrelated. Arrests have been made in the first four cases.
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