Police in Athens now have all three suspects in a recent shooting death in custody.

Ralph Lakee Bess, 29, surrendered Saturday at the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office, police spokesman Geoffrey Gilland said.

Bess was booked into jail, charged with murder in the Dec. 10 death of Walter James Brown Jr., according to police.

Earlier, Maurice Lawrence, 31, had surrendered and Davonte Jamal Brown, 25, was arrested and charged with malice murder. All the suspects are from Athens.

MORE: 2 in custody in Athens shooting death; 1 at large

Brown was found dead at the Oak Hill Apartments, according to police, but it’s not clear who fired the deadly shots.

“While there were multiple people with firearms at this incident,” Gilland said, “we can't say with certainty that Brown was shot by multiple weapons, or by who, until we receive ballistics results from the crime lab.”

It’s also unclear why Brown was targeted.

In other news:

Channel 2's Justin Gray reports from Washington D.C. on the government's response.

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Passengers wait at a Delta check-in counter at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport domestic terminal on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, the first day of the Federal Aviation Administration cutting flight capacity at airports during the government shutdown. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

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