SUPERIOR COURT
The death of a Jones County murder defendant was the end of a tragedy that began with the declining mental health of an aging parent and led to an unforeseen chain of deadly events.
District Attorney Wright Barksdale said he was notified of the death of 87-year-old Charles Hill Sr. Feb. 1. The octogenarian was arrested April 24, 2023, and charged with murder following the shooting death of his 86-year-old wife. The DA said Hill was a resident in a memory care facility at the time of his death.
Hill’s obituary gave the date of his death as Jan. 27.
“We have a great relationship with the Jones County Sheriff’s Office, and they consented to the release of Mr. Hill from jail to the memory facility,” Barksdale said. “The odds of the case going to trial were slim.”
According to the story about the shooting in The Jones County News, Jones County Sheriff’s Office Investigator John Simmons responded to the call about the shooting. The investigator said he spoke to the couple’s son and daughter when he arrived at the scene.
Simmons said he was told a domestic dispute started between the father and son about a scheduled video appointment that afternoon. He said, during the argument, the father said he was going to get his gun to shoot his son, but the threat was not taken seriously.
The investigator said the father did go into the other room and came back with a gun. He said Hill shot once before the son was able to get to him, and during the struggle for the weapon, two more shots were fired into the floor.
The son then took possession of the gun and took it to his car. Simmons said the son did not realize his mother had been shot until he came back into the house.
The investigator said the victim was shot in the torso and was deceased before officers or the ambulance could arrive.
Hill was taken into custody at the scene.
