Cold Case Project | The double homicide of Hilton and Jeannette Turner

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – The children of an Augusta couple murdered in their home nearly three years ago await answers to the grisly crime. Until they get justice, they reflect.

“It’s a lot of grand kids. It’s a lot of cousins,” said Corey Cooper, a son. “It’s just a lot of (laughs), a lot of family.”

Corey Cooper can only think of the rich legacy his parents left behind while he visits their gravesite at Walker Memorial Park in Augusta.

He said laughingly, “They were very comical parents.”

And their good times.

“I’m back tracking, but what’s that story because it’s hilarious…,” Belinda Turner Baker said while reminiscing with her brother Hilton Turner Jr.

Through the laughs and many narratives told by Turner Jr. and Baker, we learned a lot about the Lucy C. Laney High School graduates.

“They grew up in that generation that did the civil rights stuff back in the ’60s.” Turner Jr. recalled.

Lifelong residents of Augusta, Hilton and Jeannette Turner hail from the Bethlehem community; one from Forest Street and the other from Chestnut Street. They both had five siblings, and one was Jeannette’s identical sister. Mt. Calvary and Liberty Baptist Churches served as places of worship for the two growing up and very early on in their adult lives, they married and started a family.

“My daddy worked where we lived, ok? Underwood Homes, right there on Sand Bar Ferry Road,” Turner Jr. told us.

The Tuner children also said Hilton’s work ethic was unmatched. He repaired homes with the Augusta Housing Authority. He never missed a day of work in more than 40 years. Mr. Turner also served as a volunteer fireman. Jeannette spent nearly 30 years working as an EEG tech for Medical College of Georgia. But just as the two became empty nesters, they chose to raise a nephew as their own.

“Growing up in that household it was the best thing that ever happened to me. It helped me become a better parent, a better father, a loving father and I miss them,” Cooper explained.

All of the Turner children told Cold Case Project their parents didn’t seem afraid or concerned in the months and days leading up to the crime. But when Jeannette’s twin sister and her husband arrived at the Hale Street home on February 17, 2021, the door was open and they discovered the unthinkable. Baker remembers her uncle’s stoic call.

She said, “I answered and he said, you need to come home. You need to come home. You’re daddy dead.”

Before any of them could process the shock, more devastating news came.

“Somebody called our phone on my wife’s Bluetooth and said Ms. Jeannette dead too,” Turner Jr. said while recounting that day.

Cold Case Project caught up with Sgt. Randall Amos who runs Richmond County Sheriff’s Office’s Cold Case Unit. He was called to the Turner’s home the day they were murdered.

“We suspect highly that it’s someone that was familiar with the Turners,” said Sgt. Randall Amos, Richmond County Sheriff’s Office Violent Crimes.

Initial reports from the family were that 75-year-old Hilton Turner was shot once. Then the perpetrator turned the gun on 73-year-old Jeanette Turner, who was mostly bedridden.

“She was shot multiple times. And I was like who would do that,” Baker said.

Cooper also recalled that time. “For me to get that call later on, the next day, it just tore me up.”

Through the pain, the family aims to figure out what happened. Sgt. Randall Amos said the crime is certainly bizarre.

“This particular situation, I believe, is a little odd. Not very many times do we get a double homicide with an elderly couple, especially with two individuals that are spoken very highly of,” Sgt. Amos told Cold Case Project.

We asked Cooper, “With Hale Street being a retirement community, do you think it might have been a robbery?”

He replied, “They didn’t take anything. He had a wallet full of cards. They didn’t take anything.”

Family members said authorities told them they believe the double murder happened the night before, though Sgt. Amos said it’s still unclear. The family did confirm the couple had just eaten dinner. And they kept the same routine each day.

“It probably was about money,” Baker said. “Outside looking in, you would’ve thought they had a little bit of change. Or, somebody just watching the movements. Daddy was very regimented in his routine, especially being a retiree and wanting to make sure he wasn’t out after dark.”

We asked, “Can you tell me how you think the investigation is going?

Baker said, “There are no new developments in the case. It still remains where it is.”

Sgt. Amos said, “If you’ve thought about maybe I should call the police, call us. Let us decide whether the information is relevant or not.”

The Turner family has done everything from putting up billboards to offering a $5,000 reward. Not giving up hope, they turned to Project Cold Case, a victim’s advocate organization helping families of unsolved homicides. With a spotlight on the organization’s homepage and help from journalism students at University of North Florida, justice may be within reach.

“They took everything from us and they need to know. And they need to hear from us, they need to see us. And they need to just suffer. And they need to tell us why they did this,” Baker said.

“Someone’s conscience is going to weigh on them heavy enough where they’re going to speak out,” said Cooper.

Anyone with any information about the double murder of Hilton and Jeannette Turner should contact Richmond County Sheriff’s Office at 706-821-1000. Again, there is a $5,000 reward. What family and law enforcement need to get justice and close the case.

Photojournalists: Regynal McKie and Dania Alawir

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