Preliminary results from an autopsy conducted on a 4-year-old girl who was fatally shot in the head has found she died of a single gunshot wound.
According to a news release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, an early investigation determined that the 4-year-old girl and her 3-year-old brother were playing with a gun in a house in Rochelle.
At the time, the girl’s father, 28-year-old Johnny Lee Kellom, was also at the home with the children.
“The firearm was not secured and one of the children gained access to it,” the news release update said.
At 8:15 p.m. on Wednesday, GBI agents, Crisp County Sheriff’s Office deputies, and the Wilcox County Sheriff in Cordele, Georgia, took Kellom into custody.
Kellom is being held at Crisp County Jail and faces charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, tampering with evidence, giving false statements, and reckless conduct.
The GBI said earlier that the father of the girl came into the Rochelle Police Department about 2 p.m. Tuesday. He said his daughter was shot.
“Rochelle dispatchers requested a Rochelle Officer to respond to the Police Department to assist,” the news release said. “Upon the officer’s arrival, the man left the area. Shortly after the report of the shooting to the Rochelle Police Department, the Wilcox County Sheriff’s Office received information that the victim’s father traveled to Seville, GA where he dropped the body of the victim off with family and then left the residence.”
Wilcox County Coroner Janice B. Brown pronounced the girl dead at the family’s home, the station reported.
The man is known by law enforcement, the station reported. A search warrant obtained for the man's home "showed evidence of a crime," WGXA reported.
The father was later located and has been interviewed, the station reported at the time.
The child’s body is being transported to the GBI Medical Examiner’s Office in Macon, where an autopsy was conducted.
Multiple investigators across multiple counties have been involved in the investigation. WGXA previously reported the GBI was contacted by Rochelle Police Department Chief Eric Higby and Sheriff Robert Rodgers to investigate.
About the Author
