Victims ID’d in Henry County shooting; suspects appear in court

Distraught family members arrived on the scene of a quadruple shooting Thursday in McDonough. JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

Distraught family members arrived on the scene of a quadruple shooting Thursday in McDonough. JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

Update

A Henry County Magistrate Judge on Friday reset a preliminary hearing for next month to give two men charged with murder in a quadruple shooting time to consult with their public defenders as authorities released the name of the victims.

Jacob Cole Kosky and Mathew Baker Jr, both of McDonough, made a first appearance Friday morning before Judge Robert Godwin. The pair are accused of murdering three people and critically injurying a fourth person at a home on Moccasin Gap Road in a rural part of McDonough.

Kosky, 22, is charged with three counts of murder, four counts of aggravated assault, one county of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Baker is charged with three counts of murder and four counts of aggravated assault.

The pair will be back in magistrate court on Nov. 21 at 2 p.m. They will remain in jail until then.

According to the criminal warrant obtained from the Henry County Police by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Kosky is identified as the shooter while Baker is said to have aided and abetted Kosky by giving him the gun used in the crime and then helping him leave the scene. The warrant noted that Kosky went to the house with the “intent to then and there rob and murder.” Kosky was positively identified by his half-sister as well as another witness, according to the report.

Authorities identified the three people killed in the quadruple shooting Thursday as Matthew Hicks, 18, of McDonough; Keith Gibson, 29, of Covington and Sophia Bullard, 20 of Thomason. The victims were shot in the head according to the criminal warrant.

The fourth person — Destiny Olinger who is said to be the granddaughter of the homeowners — is clinging to life at Grady Memorial Hospital, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

In addition to Kosky and Baker, three other people were arrested for obstruction police investigation. They are Kayla Head, 21, of McDonough; Jacob Tillman Williams, 18, of Locust Grove and Brooke Danielle Knight of Locust Grove. Head and Williams were released last night on $1,100 bond. While Knight was issued a $750 bond Friday morning.

The shooter apparently knew the people shot, authorities said.

The quadruple shooting has rocked the community, including longtime law enforcement veterans.

“This is the first quadruple shooting I remember,” said Capt. Bobby Sloan, a 28-year veteran of the Henry Co. Sheriff’s Office. “I know there’s been double homicides but not a triple.”

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