A 71-year-old man was shot and killed by a backseat passenger shortly after he was picked up from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, authorities said Monday.
JonThomas Cloud, 29, was arrested and is facing a murder charge in connection with Sunday’s shooting of Andrew Stankiewicz, who was seated in the front passenger seat of a Cadillac Escalade on the trip to Columbus, according to the Troup County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators said Stankiewicz’s wife was driving the vehicle at the time of the incident.
The sheriff’s office was called just after 12:30 p.m. to Wellstar West Georgia Medical Center in LaGrange for a person shot. When deputies arrived, they met with local police, who said a man was dead in the emergency room and a vehicle was parked in the hospital’s ambulance bay.
Investigators were notified and found blood in the front passenger seat, along with bullet holes in the front window and passenger seat, authorities said. They then questioned Cloud and Stankiewicz’s wife, who were both uninjured. Her name was not released.
According to the sheriff’s office, they had traveled to the airport to pick up Stankiewicz and were on the way home along I-85 when Cloud shot him in the back of the head.
“The driver then proceeded to West Georgia Medical, and on their arrival 911 was notified,” the sheriff’s office added.
A motive and details surrounding the shooting are unclear at this time.
Cloud is facing charges of murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. He was booked into the Troup County Jail and is being held without bond, according to online records.
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