Nearly a month after a man was found dead at his Lithia Springs home, his body bound with duct tape, three people have been arrested on murder charges, Douglas County authorities announced.
Stiles Dean Stilley, 53, was found in a house on East County Line Road, about a half-mile from Lithia Springs High School, the Douglas sheriff’s office said Wednesday. Stilley had been dead “for a couple of days” when his body was found, the sheriff’s office said, but did not share further details about the cause of death.
The sheriff’s office opened a homicide investigation, and over the course of the next two weeks identified three suspects.
Elizabeth Diana Allen, 22, was arrested Sept. 24 and is facing charges as party to a crime, according to online jail records. Two days later, 23-year-old Marshall Anthony Fleming was arrested on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and automobile theft, jail records show. On Sept. 27, 42-year-old Daniel Raymond Gillstrap was also arrested on aggravated assault, kidnapping and theft charges.
Murder charges were added against all three suspects Oct. 6, jail records show. Allen, Fleming and Gillstrap remain in the county jail without bond.
According to Stilley’s obituary, he grew up in Gwinnett County and graduated from Berkmar High School. Stilley worked as a carpenter and his obituary described him as “faithful in his walk with the Lord despite his struggle through difficult times in his life.”
He is survived by a large family, including two children, a granddaughter and two sisters. He was preceded in death by his oldest son, who died unexpectedly at age 25, and his parents, whose estate owned the home where Stilley was found, according to online tax records.
A funeral will be held for Stilley on Saturday at the Davis-Streumpf Chapel in Austell, his obituary said. He will later be interred in a private family service at Greenlawn Cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida.
The sheriff’s office has not released further information about the circumstances around Stilley’s death.
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