Sparta man arrested on murder charges

Published 11:43 am Tuesday, November 22, 2022

SPARTA, Ga. — Less than 12 hours after the body of a 39-year-old Sparta man was discovered lying in the street in Hancock County, local and state law enforcement authorities had made an arrest in the homicide case.

Special Agent Brian Hargrove, the assistant agent in-charge of the Georgia Bureau of investigation Region 6 Office in Milledgeville, identified the suspect as Treyvion Markise Crayton, 20, of Sparta.

Hargrove said Crayton’s arrest followed an interview Saturday afternoon at the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office in Sparta.

Crayton was charged with one count of malice murder, one count of felony murder, and one count of aggravated assault, according to Hargrove.

The suspect, who is being held in the Hancock County Jail in Sparta, is accused in the shooting death of Robert May III.

Hargrove told The Union-Recorder that May’s body was found by deputies with the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office lying in the roadway shortly before 2:30 a.m. Saturday.

Hancock County Coroner Adrick Ingram pronounced the victim dead at the scene, Hargrove said.

May’s body has been sent to a GBI crime laboratory for an autopsy. The autopsy will be performed by a state medical examiner. It will determine the cause and manner of the victim’s death.

The GBI assistant agent in-charge said he received a telephone call shortly after the body was discovered from Hancock County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Pat Williams requesting the GBI’s assistance.

A crime scene specialist processed the area where the shooting is believed to have taken place on College Avenue. Special Agent Christian Nesci also went to the scene, as did Hargrove.

During the investigation Saturday, GBI agents talked with several neighbors who lived in the vicinity of where the shooting happened.

Authorities have not yet indicated what the motive might have been for the shooting.

Anyone with additional information concerning the fatal shooting is asked to call the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office in Sparta at 706-444-6471 or the GBI Region 6 Office in Milledgeville at 478-445-4173.