An 11-hour domestic hostage crisis inside a Milledgeville apartment ended Tuesday morning with one man dead and another wounded.

Rico Wright, 32, took his own life after holding his 27-year-old estranged wife Davara Wright at gunpoint throughout Monday night and into Tuesday morning at a Pine Knolls apartment. Wright shot at police officers through the apartment door as they tried to talk him into releasing his wife and surrendering.

Wright shot another man that he found in the apartment late Monday night, according to Tom Davis, Georgia Bureau of Investigations special agent in charge of the Milledgeville office.

Javian Harper was treated at Oconee Regional Medical Center for a gunshot wound to the shoulder and neck and released Tuesday, Davis said.

Wright also physically assaulted his estranged wife during the 11 hours she was held hostage, according to a statement issued and signed by Richard Malone, deputy chief of police.

Investigators did not disclose the relationship between Wright’s wife and Harper.

Reports at Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office indicate Wright and his estranged wife, who had been married about four years, had a history of domestic violence. Reports date from 2000 while the couple was dating and continue as recently as Sept. 8 when deputies charged Wright with making terroristic threats against his wife. Other charges include stalking, simple battery and harassing phone calls.

Milledgeville Police Department officers and Baldwin County Sheriff’s deputies swarmed onto the apartment complex shortly after a caller reported gun fire to Baldwin County 911 Center at 11:41 p.m. Monday.

The standoff ended around 10:45 a.m. Tuesday when officers discovered Wright’s body with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, Davis said.

Baldwin County Coroner’s Office confirmed that Wright apparently shot himself in the head with a shotgun, according to Chief Deputy Coroner John Gonzalez.

Baldwin County Coroner’s Office took charge of Wright’s body, which will be autopsied at the GBI Crime Lab in Atlanta this morning, Gonzalez said. The GBI is conducting the investigation.

Wright barricaded himself and his wife inside the apartment late Monday night, according to the police statement. When Milledgeville officers tried to talk Wright into surrendering, he shot at officers through the apartment door, according to the police statement.

Throughout the night and early morning, officers and family members attempted to negotiate with Wright, pleading for him to release his wife, the report states. Wright again shot several times through the door and at surrounding buildings, prompting officers to evacuate as many as 30 residents to safe locations and other apartments.

Milledgeville Police Department requested assistance from the Georgia State Patrol CNT team, who, with the assistance of family members, tried to convince Wright to release his wife and surrender to police, the release states. But those negotiations failed.

Members of the GSP team stormed the apartment around 10:30 a.m. The team found Wright’s estranged wife and sent her to Oconee Regional Medical Center, the release states.

Wright again fired on officers while barricading himself in another room, Davis said. Wright shot himself as officers tried to re-enter the apartment, the release states.

Rico Wright’s family gathered behind the police road block Tuesday morning.

At one point Rico’s father, Otis Wright, talked to his son using a cell phone, according to family attorney Linda Lyons of Eatonton.

The son told his father conflicting stories during the conversation, Lyons said. He told his father he wanted to release his wife and surrender himself to police, but he also told his father he planned to take his own life, Lyons said.

“He agreed to release her [earlier], but she refused to leave because she was afraid of what police might do to him,” Lyons said.

Wright had been seeing a counselor, the attorney said.

“He was under counseling, but apparently not soon enough,” she said. “[The family] is having a hard time believing that he’d kill himself because they didn’t believe that he was suicidal, but since this thing had been going on since 11 o’clock last night, there’s no telling how far gone his mental state had gotten.”

The estranged wife’s mother and her mother’s common-law husband were with her at Oconee Regional Medical Center while she received treatment for a minor wound.

The mother said Wright called her around midnight and threatened to kill her and her daughter, Gloria Grable said.

“He called me last night about midnight and said he was going to shoot my daughter and that he was going to kill me, too. After he called me, I called 911, and then they told me that they were handling it. I told them I couldn’t stay home and that I had to see my daughter,” Grable said. “When I tried to turn in at McDonald’s, I was told to go home and get a family member to come back with me. I went and got my mother, and then went back and waited for information, but they [law enforcement] wouldn’t tell me anything.”

Grable’s common-law husband of 15 years, Garry James, said Wright called him also.

“He called me about 12:30 a.m. and just asked ‘What’s up, Gary?’ and hung up the phone. I knew there was something wrong,” James said.

Grable said her daughter had lived at Pine Knolls Apartments for about one month. She also said she’d had a run-in with Wright weeks earlier when he slashed Grable’s car tire and she suspected that he might become violent toward her daughter.

“I knew something like this would happen,” Grable said. “I’m just glad my daughter is safe.”

Grable said the man in the apartment with her daughter was a co-worker.

“He was trying to stop [Wright],” Grable said, “and was shot in the shoulder.”



Alexander Cain contributed to this article.