DEARING, Ga. - A 46-year-old Dearing man has been charged with murder in connection with the shotgun slaying of a woman at a mobile home in McDuffie County on Saturday night, authorities say.
Sheriff Logan Marshall identified the suspect as Alfonso Smith, who immediately was taken into custody by deputies responding to the scene of the shooting at a single-wide mobile home at 3616 Larkin Road, just after 8 p.m.
He is accused of shooting to death Mary Embry Smith in the doorway of a rear bedroom, Sheriff Marshall said. At the time, the sheriff was unclear as to the relationship of the couple. Ms. Smith is believed to have been shot once in the head by a shotgun, said McDuffie County Deputy Coroner Sammy Purvis.
An autopsy was slated for Monday at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab in Decatur, Mr. Purvis said.
Mr. Smith since has been charged with various crimes, including murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and probation violation, according to Millie McClain, records clerk of the McDuffie County Sheriff's Department. The suspect remained jailed in the McDuffie County Law Enforcement Center in Thomson on Sunday.
Sheriff's Sgt. Mike Hobbs said the shooting apparently stemmed from a domestic argument. Sheriff Marshall confirmed that there had been a history of domestic disturbance calls made to that residence in the past.
At the time of the shooting, there was at least one other person inside the residence, Sheriff Marshall said. That person managed to escape being injured.
The shooting remains under joint probe by deputies of the sheriff's department and agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Region 7 office in Thomson.
