Deaths of Whitfield County couple under investigation by sheriff's office, GBI
Feb. 18—The Whitfield County Sheriff's Office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are investigating the deaths Tuesday night of a Whitfield County couple.
James Andrew McGaha, 42, and Ladonna Michele McGaha, 59, died at their residence at 205 Timberland Drive.
"All evidence gathered up to this point indicates murder-suicide," said sheriff's office Capt. Paul Woods. "The investigation is continuing."
According to a Whitfield County Sheriff's Office incident report, at about 7:46 p.m. Tuesday a lieutenant went to the residence "in reference to someone calling the Whitfield County 911 Center stating that his brother, James McGaha, had called him stating that he had killed his wife (and) was going to kill himself."
The caller advised dispatch that "James did own weapons." The report said "a second caller had contacted dispatch stating that James was going to commit suicide."
The lieutenant and a deputy established "cover with their patrol vehicles in the roadway in front of the residence."
The report said the lieutenant "could see that the front door of the residence was open, and the lights were on inside." The lieutenant used his vehicle's public address system to attempt to contact James McGaha. The lieutenant "announced that deputies with the Whitfield County Sheriff's Office were outside, and he instructed James to come to the front door with empty hands."
As other deputies and a captain arrived, the lieutenant "did not see any movement, nor did he hear anything from inside the residence. After several deputies were on scene, and not receiving any response from inside the residence, the deputies established a perimeter around the house and began to make an approach to the opened front door."
The report said inside the deputies found a female in the kitchen who "appeared to be sitting in the floor with her back against furniture.
There was blood next to the female, she was unresponsive, and she did not appear to be breathing. The deputies also discovered a male in the floor next to a dining room table. The male seemed to have severe trauma, but as the deputies gave verbal commands and approached the male, they discovered that he was holding a gun in his right hand.
"Numerous verbal commands were given for the male to let go of the gun. Deputies also attempted to remove the gun from the male's hand, but with every attempt, the male began to grip the gun tighter. Deputies backed away and continued to give the male verbal commands to let go of the gun in order to get him medical attention."
Deputies were finally able to remove the gun from the man's hand and declare the scene secure, allowing emergency medical services (EMS) workers to enter the house. EMS found that both the man and the woman were dead.
