After four years of unanswered questions, police on Tuesday said an inmate serving time for robbery and gang-related charges was allegedly responsible for killing a man at an apartment complex in Clayton County.
On Monday, Travaughn Gordon, 21, of Fairburn, was charged with murder in the death of Bobbie Jackson, whom he allegedly shot several times during a Sept. 9, 2019, drug-related robbery at the Gardenwood Apartments near College Park, Clayton police said in a news release.
Jackson, 42, arrived at Southern Regional Medical Center around 1 a.m. that day, less than 30 minutes after gunshots were reported near the complex in the 1100 block of Garden Walk Boulevard. But responding officers didn’t find anyone injured or anything out of the ordinary at the scene and no connection was made at the time, police said.
In fact, Clayton police said they weren’t aware of the shooting until the GBI notified investigators Nov. 1 — a week after Jackson’s death.
The case remained unsolved until a Clayton police detective received “promising” information and identified a witness, according to authorities.
“The eyewitness filled in the unknown details, corroborated other known facts of the case, and confirmed that the incident did in fact occur in the rear of the apartment complex,” police said.
The detective determined Gordon, who was 17 at the time, allegedly shot Jackson after they agreed to meet during a drug deal, police said. He was charged with felony murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault and possession of a weapon during the commission of a crime.
Credit: Clayton County Police Department
Credit: Clayton County Police Department
Gordon had been serving time in the Clayton County Jail since March 16, 2020, on charges of robbery and violations of the Georgia Gang Act.
According to online records, he is also facing dozens of other charges, including riot in penal institution, false imprisonment, aggravated battery and assault with a deadly weapon. Many of the offenses were dated just two days after he arrived at the jail.
Police said most of those charges were related to an ongoing RICO investigation by the Clayton County District Attorney’s Office at the jail.
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