VALDOSTA —
As the investigation into the murder of a popular DJ continued Monday, co-workers talked about the man behind the mic.
Stephon Edgerton, 40, known on the radio as Juan Gatti, was a husband and father of three children. A man who “always had a smile on his face,” said fellow radio personality “Shotgun Charlie” Walker.
“He definitely had a great sense of humor,” Walker said. “Everyone knew him that way, but he was more than just an entertainer. He was very smart ... wise beyond his years, and just incredible on the keyboard. He really was a great guy ... always had a joke.”
Walker referred to WGOV’s Gatti as a thespian and recalled a time when Walker went to view the stage performance of “The Wizard of Oz” and told Gatti about it. Gatti acted out the part of the Cowardly Lion verbatim. Walker also said the popular radio personality was “down to earth” and occasionally sat in on his show to provide the “black perspective,” Walker said.
Gatti was employed by the radio station for six years. At the time of his death, he worked the 7 p.m.-midnight shift, entertaining all who listened. Gatti was finishing his shift Friday night, when he was shot three times outside of the radio station off Highway 84.
Dennis Henry, who is on 950 AM from 3-7 p.m., said Gatti was a member and musician at New Hope Baptist Church where he played the keyboard each Sunday.
Radio personality and co-worker Miss J. West said Gatti was a nice man who appeared to love life.
“I always thought he was very intellectual,” West said with a smile. “You could literally hear him smiling through the radio ... when he walked into a room, it lit up.”
The petite personality said she got her start approximately one year after Gatti and has never had an issue with anyone coming to the station with the intent of causing trouble.
The U.S. 84 facility houses radio stations WGOV, WAAC and WLYX. With its 12 employees, some of whom are on the airwaves daily, Walker said there have never been any incidents like the one that sent shock waves throughout the community over the weekend.
“In Savannah and Albany, there were some incidents of people who stalked radio personalities,” Walker said. “In this market, I have not heard of there being any crazies.”
During the 7 p.m. - midnight shifts, the radio station receives typical off-the-wall calls but nothing that alarmed anyone.
Nor did Gatti have any enemies, according to his colleagues interviewed Monday. One of the employees said he believes it may have been a case of mistaken identity.
The Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office continued investigating the shooting death Monday. Lowndes County Sheriff’s Capt. Wanda Edwards said investigators are following leads, and the investigation is ongoing.
Sheriff’s investigators and deputies, crime-scene techs and the Georgia State Patrol were out in force around midnight Friday at the radio station’s 2973 U.S. 84 West location.
The station was closed for the night with radio operations running on automation. Walker told The Times that Gatti had just finished his shift before midnight and set the automation machine before exiting the building.
The 911 center received a call at 11:53 p.m. from Gatti, said Lowndes
County Deputy Coroner Walter Wacter.
Gatti had been shot twice in the torso and once in the head. He was able to describe the shooter as a white male wearing a white skull cap or face mask, Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine told The Times early Saturday morning at the scene.
The victim was taken by ambulance to South Georgia Medical Center, where he was declared dead at 12:53 a.m., Wacter said.
Sheriff’s department K9 dogs were in action in the fields surrounding the station past midnight; the dogs tracked the assailant as far as a nearby power line, the sheriff said. Across U.S. 84, investigators could see where a car had pulled off about three-quarters of a mile from the station, he said.
“We think (the shooter) got in a car and headed east,” Prine said.
Investigators found a soda can, a small bag of chips, and “what appeared to be a small amount of drugs” outside the station, the sheriff said.
If anyone has information pertaining to this crime, call the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office, (229) 671-2956.
For more on this story and other local news, subscribe to The Valdosta Daily Times e-Edition, or our print edition.
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