Caleb Walker Thompson was an 18-year-old from Sylvester, Georgia, who was just beginning his career and was known for his ability to brighten any room. A recent graduate of Tift County High School, Caleb played football and basketball and was a member of Praise Temple Church of God in Sumner. His family described him as a "beautiful soul" and "an amazing person to everyone," saying, "To know Caleb, was to love him."
On the morning of September 3, 2020, Caleb, a White male, drove his car to work in Albany. As an electrician apprentice for MetroPower, he was part of a crew doing subcontract work on the campus of Dougherty Comprehensive High School. Shortly after he arrived and parked, he was found inside his vehicle, having been fatally shot.
The Dougherty County District Attorney would later characterize the shooting as a random crime, stating that Caleb had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Dougherty County School System Police Department launched a homicide investigation. Later that same day, Albany police were called to a separate incident in the 2000 block of Tompkins Avenue, where a 24-year-old man named Telvin Williams had forced his way into a woman’s apartment. After a standoff with police, Williams barricaded himself inside and died by suicide.
The two events were officially connected several months later. In February 2021, investigators announced a major breakthrough. A forensic analysis by the GBI confirmed that the shell casings recovered from the scene of Caleb's murder matched those found at the scene where Telvin Williams had taken his own life. The District Attorney stated that the evidence was sufficient to show that the firearm Williams used was the same one that killed Caleb Thompson.
Following the forensic findings, the Dougherty County District Attorney announced in February 2021 that the homicide case was officially being closed. With the primary suspect deceased, no arrest could be made. The DA expressed that the resolution would provide closure for Caleb’s family and the community, confirming that authorities were confident they had identified the person responsible.
