Augusta’s latest murder: What we know about victim, suspect

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - As we learn more about Augusta’s latest murder victim, Richmond County deputies released the name of the man accused of killing her.

Cynthia Wright, a 43-year-old security guard who worked the overnight shift, was found shot dead Tuesday morning at 1150 Fifth St.

That’s the site of the distribution center for Union Agener Animal Health, which makes a product that increases milk production in cows.

Cornell Thomas, 32, is being sought in connection with the shooting.

Wright’s family said she has four grown children and five grandchildren.

She worked nights and into the morning, and they believe she was shot the night before her body was found around 6 a.m.

The family said they don’t know the connection, if any, between Wright and Thomas, but that her car was taken after she was shot and was found later.

Thomas is described as 6 feet tall and weighing 210 pounds. Authorities also released a photo of him.

He’s considered armed and dangerous and is being sought on charges of murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Anyone with information about Thomas is urged to Investigator Walter McNeil or any on-duty investigator with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office at 706-821-1020 or 706-821-1080.

Wright was the fourth local homicide victim in as many days. Earlier:

• The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office responded Sunday to the Circle K gas station at 2574 Tobacco Road, where Samuel DeWayne Jackson, 48, was fatally shot. Deputies arrested Donald Gross, 61.
• A shooting on Saturday took place at a home in the 100 block of Vanderbilt Circle just before 2:45 a.m. Nakendrick Dewayne Glover, 29, died at the scene.
• On Monday, Columbia County deputies were sent to investigate a report of a fight in progress at 206 Evans Lake Drive. Howard Winning, 61, was pronounced dead at the scene. Anthony Burns, 41, was charged with murder.

A deadly spring and summer

The CSRA has been enduring an outbreak of deadly crimes since at least mid-April. About 30 people have been slain or found dead under suspicious circumstances in communities large and small.

Among the cases:

• Damien Tanksley, 35, was fatally shot Aug. 4 at the Get-N-Go store on the 2350 block of Windsor Spring Road in Augusta.
• On July 27, 16-year-old Kaymaya Greene of Augusta was shot at the Economy Inn on Deans Bridge Road. She was taken to the hospital and later died from her injuries. Demarcus Clark, 19, of Augusta was arrested.
• On July, 26, Anthony Lee Flowers, 33, was shot at a corner store on Wheeless Road. Frederick McNeal, 62, of Augusta, was arrested.
• On July 20, Keshia Chanel Geter, 36, from Eastover, S.C., was found shot dead at the Knights Inn on Boy Scout Road. Jaquarie Allen, 22, of Augusta, was arrested.
• On July 10, the body of Morris Harden, 58, of Augusta, was found just off the roadway in the 1200 block of Watkins Pond Road in Burke County. So far, three men have been arrested and charged in his death.
• On July 9, Nicholas Jovantay Hall, 31, of Swainsboro, was shot dead on Stokes Avenue in the Emanuel County community of Twin City. Peggy Ann Milton, 34, was arrested.
• On July 5, authorities discovered the body of 65-year-old Bobby Miller, who’d been shot dead in a closet at 5274 Dogwood Drive just outside North Augusta. His son, Jason Glenn Miller, 42, has been arrested.
• On July 2, Barry J. Redding, 39, and Stephan A. Poole, 40, of Aiken, were shot dead at a suspect has been identified as Hasheem Keywaun Rond Glover, 20, of Salley.
• On June 30, Thaddeus Rodregus Price, 22, of Augusta, was shot just before 1 a.m. at Sycamore Drive and Alpine Road and pronounced dead on the scene at 2:03 a.m.
• On June 26, a shooting on Wadley Drive in Aiken left three teenagers dead. Two suspects were arrested and another remains at-large in the deaths of 17-year-old Willie L. Garrett IV, 16-year-old Ivan Perry and 16-year-old Cameron Carroll.
• Tammy Mantooth, 57, from Lola, Kansas, was pronounced dead June 23 after being found in the back of a sport utility vehicle at Azalea Park Apartments, 1814 Fayetteville Drive in Augusta. The death is considered suspicious.
• A shooting early June 19 in the 700 block of Broad Street claimed the life of 31-year-old Percy Luther Johnson of Fredericksburg, Va.
• Trevor Sumpter, 25, of Barnwell, was shot dead in the 200 block of Bomba Street in Barnwell. A suspect has been arrested.
• At 10th and Broad Street in downtown Augusta, a shooting claimed the life of 21-year-old Logan Etterle early June 12. Two suspects have been arrested.
• Also on June 12, Jakwan Gunter, 19, was found shot dead at 11th Avenue and Grand Boulevard. Deputies told News 12 they believe the shooting was gang-related.
• On June 14, Eurl Kittles, 42, of Augusta, was fatally shot at a Captain D’s restaurant at 3166 Wrightsboro Road. Authorities have arrested Ravanell Gomillion in connection with the slaying.
• On June 3 in the 100 block of Pelzer Street in Warrenville, 34-year-old Lacey Toole was shot dead by her boyfriend John Williams, who then turned the gun on himself.
• On June 2 on Summerhill Avenue, 37-year-old Yoni Vargas shot his wife, 33-year-old Rosa Salguero-Landaverde, then killed himself.
• On May 29, a shooting killed two people – 17-year-old William Mykell Lowery and 30-year-old Christopher “Scooter” Dunn – at a “Freaknik”-themed party being held at a ballpark outside Sandersville, Ga. The shooting is believed to be the result of an altercation.
• Patricia Dent, 65, was strangled to death by her boyfriend Joseph McKinnon, who then buried her body in their yard at 102 Tanglewood Drive in Trenton, authorities say. They learned of her death on May 7 after finding McKinnon dead of a heart attack he suffered while burying Dent.
• A shooting just before 7:30 p.m. on April 23 claimed the life of Rodriquez Dunn, 31, at the Olmstead Homes in the 2100 block of B Street in Augusta. Dunn suffered at least one gunshot wound and died at the scene.
• On April 19, Brittany Dougherty was found slain outside a vacant home in the 1500 block of Conklin Lane. Her death was considered suspicious from the start, but within hours the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office ruled her death a homicide.
• On April 18, Johnnie Coleman was found shot dead in the 1900 block of Old Savannah Road. Authorities released a photo of a car suspected to have been linked to that slaying. Kelvin Lewis, 33, has been arrested as a suspect in the murders of Coleman and Dougherty.
• Jenefer Holt Herron, 52, of Augusta, died late April 18 after being shot during an argument outside the Circle K at 1739 Walton Way in Augusta. Suspect Yelena Buckner, 33, of Augusta, was later found and arrested on charges of murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, deputies reported.
• JaJuan Russell, 21, of Augusta, was fatally shot early April 17 in the 3700 block of Oslo Road in Augusta. Russell was taken to Augusta University Medical Center.
• Sandersville police found the body of a man on April 16 inside a home on Gwendolyn Street while responding to a report of a domestic dispute at the address. Santavious Louis Roberts, 35, of Sandersville, was arrested.
• Brandon Peebles, 24, of Girard, was shot around 10:45 p.m. on April 14 in the 2300 block of Prague Court. He was pronounced dead at 11:23 p.m.

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