Three killings in 48 hours send Macon’s homicide rate surging toward new record death toll

Three fatal shootings in a 48-hour span over the weekend left three people dead and a fourth wounded as Macon’s violent-death toll continued its troubling surge, one that has seen 206 people slain in four-and-a-half years.

The latest killing, that of a 41-year-old man, came Sunday night in the heart of the city’s Unionville neighborhood.

Antonio Harris died just south of Montpelier Avenue, near the intersection of Poppy Avenue and Bluebell Street, when an automobile cruised up and “several shots” were fired, Bibb County sheriff’s officials said in a statement. A young woman, 18, was wounded in the gunfire.

It was not immediately known what may have prompted the violence.

Harris’ death was the county’s 34th homicide of the year. Last year, which saw a record 54 people slain here, the 34th homicide was not recorded until Aug. 1.

Macon has seen a marked uptick in homicides over the past half-decade.

In the years since 2016, when 20 people were slain, violent deaths have risen almost every year.

In 2017, 30 people were killed; in 2018, 41 were slain. In 2019, 26 died violent deaths and in 2020, 51 were homicide victims. In 2021, which saw a modern-day-record number violent deaths, 54 died.

By comparison, a decade ago, in 2011, there were 13 homicides countywide. And for the years 2011 through 2016, the combined death toll was 117.

Since the beginning of 2017, that number has more than doubled with 236 homicides here.