Two suspects have been arrested on charges tied to the shooting of a college student found dead in the street last month in Griffin.
Demoni Lamar Beck, 17, and Jadaquis De’Andre Noble, 20, were both charged Friday with murder and aggravated assault.
“Since the morning of his murder, my criminal investigators have worked non-stop on this case,” Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix said in a news release Friday afternoon announcing the arrests.
Deputies went to the 1600 block of North Hill Street early the morning of May 27 and found 22-year-old Jacqueris Holland shot twice in the upper body. He died at the scene, authorities said.
In an impassioned Facebook post Monday that has now gone viral, Dix indicated Holland was a cosmetology student at Southern Crescent Technical College.
“He was a good student who was making good grades. He was well liked by other students and staff,” Dix wrote. “His goal was to save his money and open his own barbershop. He was cutting hair as a side job and was nearer to his goal than ever.”
The sheriff detailed how Holland was “murdered in cold blood” in what detectives “believe without a shadow of a doubt” was a gang-related shooting. According to Dix, the victim was driving on North Hill Street near the old People’s Choice Club when a silver vehicle passed him and fired several shots into his car. Holland was struck multiple times.
Detectives said he stopped in the middle of the road and got out of his car as the suspects sped away. He walked to the front of the vehicle and fell to the pavement, where he died, Dix said.
The sheriff emphasized that Holland had no gang ties or a criminal record. He said those questioned about the fatal shooting described Holland as funny and outgoing, said he had a great personality and always had a smile on his face.
Credit: Spalding County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Spalding County Sheriff's Office
“He was going to school, living his life, working hard to achieve his goals, and by all indications was just a great young man who was loved by so many people,” Dix wrote. “People I have talked to since Jacqueris’ death, who live in and support the neighborhoods affected by such senseless acts of violence, are angry, frustrated, sick of gang violence, and sick of glorification of gang members who are in reality nothing more than cowards that work by night, and terrorists living among the decent people that they prey upon.”
In a news release Friday afternoon, Dix indicated that investigators obtained arrest warrants last week after meeting with prosecutors from District Attorney Marie Broder’s office.
Beck was already in custody at the Spalding County Jail on unrelated charges. Online booking records show he was arrested the day of the fatal shooting on allegations of reckless conduct, tampering with evidence and illegally possessing a pistol.
Deputies served him warrants for the new charges tied to Holland’s death Friday afternoon, according to the release.
A U.S. Marshals Service task force and a special investigations unit from the Henry County Sheriff’s Office helped Spalding County investigators arrest the second suspect. They tracked Noble to a residence in Henry County, where he was arrested Friday.
Dix described Holland’s death as a loss to the future of the Spalding County community.
“The part that these young people just don’t realize is that now three families are going to suffer because of gang violence,” the sheriff said in Friday’s release. “One family lost a son due to murder, and two more families will lose sons to jail. It’s just unreal that the thought of killing someone or being in a gang appeals to young people so much that they are willing to lose their life or their freedom in the name of a terroristic criminal street gang. They don’t understand that you always reap what you sow.”
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