Jessica Lee Trentham Hilliard, 41, was shot and killed on January 14, 2024, at an Econo Lodge on James Road in Valdosta, Georgia. Motel employees called 911 around 2:00 pm after reporting a dispute between a man and a woman and saying a female was on the floor bleeding from her head. Officers found Hilliard unresponsive with a gunshot wound to her head; she was taken to South Georgia Medical Center and later pronounced deceased.

Authorities identified the suspect as Hilliard’s boyfriend, 56-year-old Robert Melvin Loge of Rockford, Tennessee. Following a tip, officers located Loge hiding in a maintenance utility closet at a nearby Days Inn on North St. Augustine Road and arrested him without incident. Investigators recovered a firearm and other evidence at the scene and during the arrest. Loge was booked into the Lowndes County Jail and charged with felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and the matter is proceeding through the judicial process.

If anyone was staying at either motel that afternoon or has information about the dispute or movements of the two before 2:00 pm, please come forward.