A domestic disturbance in Valdosta, Georgia, ended with a 13-year-old boy dead and his father arrested. On the afternoon of Friday, December 22, 2023, Lavonte Seward Jr. was fatally shot and taken to South Georgia Medical Center by a private vehicle, where he was pronounced dead. The Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office identified 38-year-old Lavonte Seward Sr. as the primary suspect and arrested him at the scene; he was initially charged with murder and booked into the Lowndes County Jail.

The matter was presented to a grand jury, which in March 2024 returned a true bill indicting Seward Sr. on felony murder, aggravated assault-family violence, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and cruelty to children in the first degree. Funeral services for the teen were held on December 31, 2023.

Does anyone have information about the days leading up to December 22 that could help clarify what happened during the incident?