A Coweta County grand jury this week indicted a man accused of killing three members of a family at a Grantville gun shop, according to the district attorney.
Jacob Christian Muse, 21, was indicted on 16 charges, including three counts each of malice murder and felony murder, aggravated assault and aggravated battery. The grand jury also charged Muse with armed robbery and three counts of possession of a gun during the commission of a felony.
Muse is accused of killing three members of the Hawk family on April 8 during what investigators believe was a robbery at the family’s business. The victims were Tommy Richard Hawk Sr., the 75-year-old owner, his wife Evelyn Hawk, also 75, and their 18-year-old grandson Alexander “Luke” Hawk, a senior at East Coweta High School.
The Coweta County coroner, Richard Hawk, found the bodies of his parents and son inside the Lock Stock and Barrel shop and gun range after the three didn’t return home, police previously said. Numerous weapons had been stolen, according to investigators. The GBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) were asked to assist with the investigation.
A week later, Muse was arrested at his College Park home. Muse had previously lived in the Grantville area near the gun shop, a GBI special agent said, and had been a customer.
Grantville police Chief Steve Whitlock said Muse had bought at least one gun at the shop and fired it on the range.
Credit: Family photos
Credit: Family photos
On the afternoon of April 8, Muse allegedly took a pistol into the gun shop and fired multiple shots at all three of the Hawk family members, the indictment states.
The deaths shocked the Coweta community and normally quiet Grantville, where it had been at least 20 years since a homicide was reported, according to the GBI.
Muse’s arrest came one day after the funeral was held for the Hawks. The coroner asked for prayers for his family during the service at Unity Baptist Church in Newnan and led those attending in a praise song. Hawk and his loved ones have relied on their faith to guide them through the tragedy.
At a news conference in May, Richard Hawk said his family plans to refrain from speaking publicly while the case remains open, and will continue to lean on their faith and their neighbors.
“It feels like your heart has imploded, just in pieces,” Hawk said. “And to see the love and support we’ve gotten, it takes one of those little pieces and puts it back in place.”
