Detectives hoping to generate new leads in triple murder case

Published 2:21 pm Saturday, June 28, 2025

Despite hundreds of hours spent investigating a nearly four-year-old triple homicide case, Milledgeville police have yet to find the killer or killers.

Now, just days away from the anniversary of the deaths of Erica Lachell Reaves, 43; Tyric James Justice, 30; and Quincy Lamont Jackson, 38, detectives with the Milledgeville Police Department are hoping to generate new leads.

“That’s our hope so this case can finally be solved and the families of these victims can have some closure knowing that the person or people who did this have been caught,” said Milledgeville Police Department Maj. Brandon Sellers, commander of the criminal investigation division.

Sellers, along with Keith Quattrocchi, now the lead detective assigned to the unsolved triple-homicide case, recently sat down with The Union-Recorder and talked in-depth about it.

The detectives clarified that their main objective is to try to establish new leads — something concrete that might lead them to an arrest for the senseless killings.

After the tragic fatal shootings, Milledgeville Police Chief Dray Swicord told the newspaper he was deeply saddened by the loss of lives over that Independence Day weekend.

“We, as a community, are better than this,” Swicord said.

It likely marked the first time in the city’s history that a triple homicide had occurred.

The shootings took place in the wee morning hours of Friday, July 3, 2021, at an apartment on the 2300 block of Laura Court in a neighborhood known as Duplex City. Laura Court runs off Grandview Drive.

In the last six months, detectives have conducted additional interviews.

Sellers said detectives were able to get some information from one interview subject they had not previously known about.

“There’s still no smoking gun here,” Sellers said. “It’s just building on what we kinda know as far as this case goes.”

Another recent positive related to the case involves communications with experts at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Laboratory in Decatur.

“We’ve had some very positive conversations about some things we can do DNA-wise to maybe get some further progress on this case,” Sellers said.

The commander of the police department’s criminal investigation division said some of those ideas are already being developed.

“We just want to compare some evidence that was located during the investigation and I’m being broad here on purpose,” Sellers said. “We want to obtain DNA off that evidence and compare it to potential suspects.”

A man was arrested shortly after the murder occurred, but his arrest was not related to this case, Detective Quattrocchi said.

That man was only questioned about the triple-homicide case.

“The gun that he had in his possession didn’t have anything to do with this case,” Quattrocchi said.

The lead case detective said the case has been difficult because police don’t have as much to go on as they have had in other unrelated murder cases, especially when it comes to public cooperation.

In this case, many believe someone has already been arrested.

“They think someone has already been arrested so they’re not even talking about it,” Quattrocchi said. “But that’s not true.”

No one has been arrested in connection with the triple murder.

“The thing about these kinds of cases is that’s it’s a sprint at the beginning, but now we’re at the four-year mark and it’s a marathon,” Sellers said. “We’re trying to make sure that all of our T’s are crossed and our I’s are dotted. It’s very important for us to solve this case by making an arrest or arrests, but at the same time we want to make sure that we’re right and that we have all our ducks in a row when we make an arrest on a suspect or arrests on suspects.”

Police detectives have been actively involved in investigating the triple homicide case on and off since it happened. Quatrocchi said there have easily been hundreds of hours devoted to trying to find those responsible for the brutal murders.

Two teenagers were locked in a bedroom of the house when the shootings erupted. Fortunately, neither of them was injured.

All three victims died from multiple gunshots.

Reaves and Justice were pronounced deceased at the scene, while Jackson died at Atrium Health Navicent-The Medical Center in Macon.

Asked whether the killings were an intentional targeted act or spree killings, Quatrocchi said the killings were not the result of spree killings.

The veteran detective said he believes the killings were intentional.

“I would certainly say these killings were targeted shootings,” Sellers said. “But we don’t wish to speak about a possible motive at this time. I think we have an idea, but nothing concrete because we don’t have a perfect suspect at this time.”

Sellers said police have two victims, the teens whose lives were likely spared because the shooter or shooters didn’t know they were in the bedroom.

“We have kids who don’t have parents any longer,” Sellers said. “Mr. Jackson’s sister has called me multiple times in almost the year that I’ve been back with the Milledgeville Police Department. She calls and just wants updates often.”

Sellers said it’s important for police to solve this case for several reasons.

“This didn’t have to happen and should not have happened,” Sellers said.

The main objective is to put the person or people who murdered Reaves, Justice and Jackson in jail and to one day see the killer or killers convicted for these murders, Sellers said.

“That’s why we’re reaching out to the media now to put this story back out there in hopes someone might remember something and call us,” he said.

Anyone with information about the unsolved triple-murder case is asked to call the Milledgeville Police Department at 478-414-4090 or Macon Regional CrimeStoppers Tip Hotline at 478-742-2330.