Bobby Carlton Kicklighter, 88, was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds in his Glennville, Georgia, home on the morning of January 30, 2021. Investigators concluded he was not the intended target; his house was mistaken for the home of a nearby correctional officer who had a reputation for strict enforcement against contraband at Smith State Prison.

Prosecutors say the killing grew out of a murder-for-hire plot tied to a contraband smuggling ring at the prison. Nathan Weekes, an inmate at Smith State Prison, allegedly conspired by text with his girlfriend and former Georgia Department of Corrections employee Keisha Janae Jones and with Christopher Reginald Sumlin, who had been paroled in October 2020. Sumlin was driven to the house by Aerial Murphy, Jones’s roommate, broke in through a side door and shot Kicklighter. A face mask found near the driveway reportedly contained Sumlin’s DNA.

Authorities arrested Sumlin, Weekes, Jones and Murphy and later secured an indictment alleging malice murder, felony murder and RICO-related counts. Prosecutors announced intent to seek the death penalty for Sumlin and Weekes; court proceedings remain ongoing. Did anyone in Glennville know Kicklighter or notice suspicious activity around that neighborhood in late January 2021?