Double life sentences for Brooks County murders
Published 6:00 am Friday, March 17, 2023
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QUITMAN — An Ohio man was sentenced to life in prison this past week for the 2020 murders of two men in Brooks County, the district attorney said.
Kenny Pruitt, 38, of Cleveland, Ohio, was convicted for two counts of felony murder and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, Southern District Attorney Brad Shealy said in a statement.
Pruitt was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without parole, Shealy said.
At about 3:30 p.m., Oct. 21, 2020, Brooks County Sheriff Mike Dewey asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to investigate two men who had been shot and killed on Emerson Road near Grooverville Road in south Brooks County.
The victims were identified as John Timothy Thompson of East Liverpool, Ohio, and Deshaun Lamar Scott of Cleveland, Ohio.
Pruitt was arrested nearby by deputies, claiming he killed the men in self-defense and showing the lawmen where he had hidden the weapon, an AK-47, the DA said.
Investigators said they believe Pruitt and the two other men traveled to Quitman from the Cleveland area. Thompson was traveling to the area to visit family members and the others accompanied him on the trip, Shealy said.
Pruitt and Scott had gone to Atlanta and returned the day before, and Pruitt seemed to have been angry at Scott about something that “happened or didn’t happen” in Atlanta, the DA said.
“This was a difficult case to try as we had no actual witnesses to the actual crime,” Shealy said.