January 30 marks the fourth anniversary of the brutal murder of 88-year-old Bobby Kicklighter. A stalwart of the Glennville community and a beloved father, grandfather, great-grandfather. His death rocked the quiet community, though what would be revealed as a result of the investigation…some would find unbelievable.
The unbelievable nature of the story and the seemingly endless eruption of connected crises that continue to dribble out have left little room for closure or justice for those who loved Kicklighter.
In the early morning hours of January 30, 2021, Bobby Kicklighter was found shot to death by his family after the alarms on his home were triggered and the alarm company could not reach him. The Glennville Police Department responded, followed shortly by the Tattnall County Sheriff’s Office, who quickly notified the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Agents worked the scene and the immediate area for 17 hours that day.
For the public, information on the case was slow to trickle out and no apparent reason for the brutal crime. But six months after Kicklighter’s death, four arrests were made and details of the investigation led by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation shed light on a multi-million dollar criminal enterprise operating from behind the walls of Smith State Prison in Tattnall County. The scheme, they said, involved prison inmates, illegal contraband, corrupt correctional officers, additional homicides, and a case of mistaken identity.
In August 2021, the GBI announced that three individuals had been charged in the murder of Kicklighter. Keisha Jenae Jones, a former employee of the Georgia Department of Corrections who was allegedly in a relationship with a Smith State Prison inmate, Aerial Deshay Murphy, a roomate of Keisha Jones, and Christopher Reginald Sumlin Jr., a former inmate of Smith State Prison who had been released less than a year prior. Three days later, the GBI announced that inmate Nathan Weekes, also of Smith State Prison, had also been charged.
On August 30, the GBI said Sumlin was also being charged in a murder that occurred two weeks before Kicklighter in neighboring Wayne County. That one involved husband and father Jerry Lee Davis, who worked as a delivery truck driver for a commissary supply company which delivered to Smith SP, among other places. You can read more about the Jerry Lee Davis case in Wayne County here and here.
Still, the public was left with a myriad of questions about the connection for Kicklighter who had no ties to Smith SP or the correctional system as a whole.
In September 2021, lead agent for the case, Agent Christian Johnson, testified at a preliminary hearing for Sumlin, Jones, and Murphy in Tattnall County. Johnson testified that Kicklighter’s murder was a botched murder-for-hire that was intended for the next door neighbor. The intended ‘target’ was a corrections officer at Smith SP who was known to be aggressive when it came to intercepting contraband. Operating from within the walls of Smith SP, Johnson said, was a multi-million contraband ring which smuggled in cash, drugs, cell phones, designer clothing, jewelry, and other items into the prison.
In April 2022, a Tattnall County grand jury indicted all four individuals in a lengthy indictment outlining the alleged criminal activity, violent crimes across the region, and the supposed criminal enterprise operating at Smith SP. In September of the same year, the state formally announced that it would seek the death penalty for Nathan Weekes and Christopher Sumlin.
From there, the case saw even slower progress as death penalty proceedings require considerably more pretrial motions before a trial date can even be considered. Additionally, Weekes twice retained legal counsel before he ultimately moved to representation by the Capital Defender’s office, which delayed the case as attorneys worked to familiarize themselves with the thousands of pages of discovery.
Since the case has been in court, Atlantic Circuit Superior Court Judge Jay Stewart has been relentless about keeping the case moving forward and avoiding unnecessary delays. Last month, he made a significant move toward an eventual trial, scheduling the case for jury selection on August 11, 2025.
The death penalty cases have been severed, which means Weekes and Sumlin will be tried separately. Weekes will be tried first and, upon the conclusion of his trial, Sumlin will be tried. Both Tattnall County cases are expected to precede any other connected cases in Long and Wayne County. The charges against Jones and Murphy are also expected to be adjudicated in their entirety at the conclusion of the Weekes and Sumlin trials.
Still to be decided is whether or not the case will need a change of venue. That, however, will not come until jury selection is underway in Tattnall County.
All four of the individuals charged in the Kicklighter murder have been behind bars since their arrests. Weekes is still an inmate within the Georgia Department of Corrections, though he has been transferred to the Special Management Unit in Jackson. Sumlin is not eligible for release since he is facing the death penalty. Jones and Murphy have each had bond set in their respective Tattnall County cases, though neither have been able to post bail.
TheGeorgiaVirtue.com will continue to cover this story and those connected to it as they continue to make their way through the courts. You’ll find complete trial coverage here and on our various social media accounts once proceedings are underway. View previous coverage on this story here.
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