Brothers arrested after stabbing victim’s body found in Walton County, GBI says

Two brothers face charges after being tied to a deadly stabbing in North Georgia, authorities said.

An investigation began early Monday in Morgan County when authorities received a 911 call about the stabbing, the GBI said in a news release. Deputies went to a location along Sandy Creek Road, but everyone involved had left.

About 3:30 a.m., two hours after the stabbing call, deputies in Walton County discovered a body at a home on Blasingame Road.

The GBI, which was called in to assist the sheriff’s offices with the investigation, identified the victim as 58-year-old Jerald Jerome Bowden. Authorities determined he was one of the people allegedly involved in the Morgan County altercation.

According to Morgan County Chief Deputy Keith Howard, two vehicles were speeding on Ga. 83 and attempted to take a turn onto Sandy Creek Road. One of the vehicles ran off the road into the parking lot of a nearby country store and was damaged sometime between 1 and 1:30 a.m., he said.

About a mile later, the damaged vehicle caught up with the other on Sandy Creek Road, and both stopped to survey the damage.

“While in the roadway, two males got into a physical altercation, both stabbing one another,” Howard said in a news release.

The GBI charged Tommy Joe Byrd, 55, and his brother, 56-year-old Tommy Roger Byrd, with tampering with evidence. Their specific roles in the incident were not provided, and the GBI said additional charges are pending.

The Byrd brothers knew Bowden, according to Howard.

Tommy Joe Byrd was taken into custody about 8:30 a.m. Monday in Clarke County. He was picked up by an Athens Clarke County police officer at an apartment complex after the officer recognized him from a lookout, according to police in that jurisdiction.