After divorce filing, South Georgia man killed wife, 3 others, police say

A 64-year-old man shot and killed his wife, two adult sons and a girlfriend of one of his sons at the home they all shared in South Georgia before he died by suicide, police said Thursday.

John Anthony Fabrizio shot and killed the four individuals Oct. 9, a month after his wife filed for divorce, according to Douglas police and court records. Police identified the deceased as Rachel Elizabeth Fabrizio, 64; sons James Nicholas Fabrizio, 28, and William Christopher Fabrizio, 26; and Rosaida Figueroa Berrios, 26.

John and Rachel Fabrizio had been married for 33 years, and she had recently filed for divorce, a police spokesperson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an email.

They shared three biological sons, including the two youngest killed in the shooting, said Cpl. Rigo Victoria. Berrios was James Fabrizio’s girlfriend, and all had been living at the home on Robin Lane, he said. Online Coffee County property records list Rachel Fabrizio as the homeowner.

Police, in a statement posted on social media Thursday, said autopsy results are pending. Physical and digital evidence indicates the incident was a murder-suicide, police said.

“Investigators are not seeking any additional suspects, and there is no known ongoing threat to the public associated with this incident,” the statement said.

John and Rachel Fabrizio married in 1993 in Maryland and separated in 2020, according to Rachel Fabrizio’s divorce petition, filed in the Superior Court of Coffee County on Sept. 9.

According to a separation agreement attached to the filing, both were employed by Walmart in 2020. Rachel Fabrizio was working as an e-commerce supervisor and John Fabrizio as a maintenance manager for a store in Douglas.

John Fabrizio’s response to his wife’s divorce petition was stamped by the Coffee court Oct. 9, the day of the shooting. In his filing, he said the two had been separated for about a month.

Police responded to reports of an active shooter at the home in Douglas, roughly an hour north of Valdosta, just after 11 p.m., police Chief Brannen Pruette said at a Saturday news conference. One of the victims had called 911, he said.

When officers arrived, they found five people suffering from gunshot wounds, he said. Four were pronounced dead at the scene, and one was taken to the hospital before being pronounced dead.

The Coffee County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the crime scene. Sheriff Fred Cole said the home “was a hard scene for everyone involved.”

“It ain’t every day we see things like this, and it’s heavy on their hearts,” Cole said at the news conference. “We’re a close community, and we’re going to take care of each other.”