“On Sunday, October 26, 2014 at 7:30 a.m. officials with the Meriwether County Sheriff’s Office responded to reports of a person shot at a Roswell Lee Road home near Grantville Georgia. According to reports received from the initial caller we determined the incident may have stemmed from a domestic related dispute between a husband and wife. We determined the caller, an eighteen year old, inside the home witnessed her father shoot her mother. She gathered her three other siblings, ranging in age from four years to fourteen years, and fled the home on foot. This young woman told us her father was attempting to barricade himself inside the residence” Sheriff Chuck Smith said.
“When our deputies arrived a perimeter was immediately established around the home and we began requesting other first responders to stage in the immediate area. We made several attempts to make telephone contact with persons inside the home, but our efforts failed. We saw smoke bellowing from the eves of the home and due to the volatility of the situation entry was made in the residence. My personnel had to breach their way into the residence and it was at that time we encountered heavy smoke inside the home. The smoke was so intense that further advance could not be made. We discovered the suspect may have tried to ventilate the residence to further fuel a fire that had been set. My personnel provided cover while firemen battled the flames from the exterior of the residence. They were unable to knock the flames back and we determined the fire had to be attacked from the interior. This would be the only way we could gain further entry into the home. One of my personnel donned breathing apparatus gear provided by the fire department and with his firearm he provided additional cover which enabled fireman to make further entry into the residence. Other law enforcement personnel at the scene were able to provide cover from the front entrance way and the exterior of the residence. With the provided cover several fire fighters were able to advance into a front bedroom area where the fire was most intense. These firemen were able to extinguish the blaze. Fire and Sheriff’s personnel were able to make further entry which revealed a flammable liquid had been doused throughout the interior of the residence. When the flames were extinguished the home was ventilated to prevent what could have been an explosive situation. Firemen were able to spray down the flammable substance to knock back flames that had been purposely set. Once this had been done a further search of the two story residence was conducted. The body of an unresponsive adult male was found in a closet area on the first floor of the residence. The adult male had a gunshot wound to the head. We then located an unresponsive adult female at the base of a staircase. She had gunshot wounds to the head. Both were determined dead at the time they were located inside the residence.” Sheriff Smith advised.
“We then completed a sweep of the residence and no other persons were found within the home. As we were conducting this protective sweep further volatile liquids were found in the residence to include an upstairs living area. We determined attempts were made to set additional fires in these upstairs areas, but those flames apparently smothered themselves. Firemen were able to assist us in properly ventilating the residence to make the scene as safe as possible. Through our investigation we determined a weapon had been fired numerous times inside the residence. Several bullets were fired through a downstairs window of the home. It is unknown if the subject was firing at the initial responding deputies or if he was shooting out window panes to further ventilate flames. None of my guys heard gunshots being fired when they initially arrived on the scene. We also found evidence of a suspected indoor marijuana grow room inside the residence. Our narcotics personnel recovered evidence relevant to a grow operation.” Sheriff Smith stated.
The deceased were identified as Tammie Tameke Beasley, 36 years of age, of 730 Roswell Lee Road, Grantville, Georgia and Willie James Beasley, Jr., 42 years of age, of the same address. Both bodies were sent to the GBI Crime Lab in Dekalb County. Meriwether County Coroner Johnny Worley made the death pronouncements at the scene.” Sheriff Smith said.
“This was tragic and such a terrible event that occurred. I am so thankful that these children were able to get out without harm coming to them. The eldest sibling, who is 18 years of age, led her three other siblings out to safety. She displayed great courage during this time of tragedy. She performed a heroic act by leading them to safety. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family as they try to put their lives back together. Those volunteer firemen that put themselves in harm’s way to assist my personnel are to be commended for putting their own safety aside for the benefit of others. They do this so many times when they answer the call for service, but not under the circumstances we encountered today. I commend my personnel in the way they handled this situation. They did all that was expected of them. I also appreciate the Georgia State Patrol and Luthersville Police personnel who responded and assisted my deputies with perimeter security as well as all of the first responder personnel. I am very thankful none of my personnel or other first responders were seriously injured during this very horrific and tragic incident.” Sheriff Smith advised. The investigation continues.