GBI determines Columbus political activist Nathan Smith’s cause of death
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has completed its review of the case involving the death of Columbus political activist James “Nathan” Smith and confirmed the initial determination from local officials that he died by suicide.
Smith, 49, was found with a gunshot wound to his chest area and unresponsive on the living room floor of a home in the 6400 block of Old Post Court after police responded to a call May 21 at approximately 7:30 p.m., according to the Columbus Police Department.
Muscogee County Deputy Coroner Elizabeth Allison pronounced Smith dead at the scene, according to CPD’s May 22 news release.
“The Violent Crimes Unit was called to the scene to take lead on the investigation,” CPD’s news release said at the time. “Detectives are actively investigating the incident as a death investigation. While preliminary indicators suggest a possible self-inflicted injury, the Columbus Police Department will await the official ruling from the Medical Examiner’s Office following the completion of the autopsy.
“Investigators are following up on all leads and will make a further determination once all evidence has been processed and reviewed. As with all investigations, we remain committed to a thorough and unbiased review of the facts.”
It is unclear from that news release whether police found Smith in his home. Replying to the Ledger-Enquirer’s open records request, CPD released only the cover sheet of that report back in May, so further details from police weren’t available. But that report does show the exact address of where Smith was found, and that address matches public records noting his home address.
Monday, CPD open records compliance coordinator Kimberley Myhand told the L-E in an email that CPD’s Violent Crimes Unit still hasn’t closed this case, so no further details about Smith’s death are available from the department.
The L-E asked CPD public information officer Brittany Santiago why this case remains open.
“We are still waiting on information from the FBI lab before we can close the case on our end,” she said Tuesday night in an email to the L-E.
The L-E then asked Santiago what information is CPD waiting on from the FBI lab. This story will be updated when that answer is received.
Replying to a request under the Georgia Open Records Act, the GBI released to the Ledger-Enquirer a copy of its medical examiner’s report.
In the summary of the medical examiner findings, Smith’s fatal injury was described as a “contact-range gunshot wound of the torso” and the manner of death was ruled as suicide.
Nathan Smith’s connection to Columbus finance department investigation
Smith was the catalyst for Mayor Skip Henderson requesting an investigation of the Columbus Consolidated Government Finance Department.
The initial investigation by the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office, which led to further probing of the finance department, began Jan. 2, 2024. The city manager at the time, Isaiah Hugley, requested the inquiry after his personal business tax information on a spreadsheet from his facility management company was leaked to the Columbus Council.
A second internal investigation into the leaked document began Jan. 24, 2024, at Henderson’s request. Hugley considered this leak to be illegal, according to an administrative report by MCSO.
On Feb. 7, 2024, investigators requested that the CCG Information Technology Department provide emails that reference Smith because they had reason to believe an employee in the finance department could have been involved in gathering Hugley’s tax information and sending it to Smith, since they had access to it, according to the MCSO report.
Muscogee County Sheriff Greg Countryman released the report on social media the morning after Smith died.
“The original request for Hugley’s business license and tax information was sent from Nathan Smith’s email,” the report says.
The inquiry determined there wasn’t sufficient evidence showing Smith’s email was sent by Smith, nor was there a reference to the origin of the leaked document.
Investigators determined that, because the spreadsheet wasn’t descriptive enough to show what the numbers mean, the information wasn’t confidential.
No criminal wrongdoing was found regarding the leaked document. But after the investigations began, if other criminal activities were noticed in the inquiry of the leak, those crimes would be investigated, according to the MCSO report.
During this inquiry, investigators were advised to speak with the city’s internal auditor, Donna McGinnis. She revealed information about whistleblowers and other administrative investigations during the internal audit of the finance department, the MCSO report says.
That led to the May 15 arrests of CCG finance director Angelica Alexander on a misdemeanor charge of obstructing a law enforcement officer and former CCG revenue manager Yvonne Ivey on two misdemeanor counts of simple battery.
One month later, Columbus Municipal Court Judge Steven Smith dismissed both charges against Ivey, approving the request from Towaliga Judicial Circuit deputy chief assistant district attorney Wayne Jernigan, who was assigned the case after Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit district attorney Don Kelly recused himself.
Jernigan told the Ledger-Enquirer then that the two-year statute of limitations had expired on Ivey’s charges. Alexander’s case still is pending.
Ledger-Enquirer reporters Brittany McGee and Kelby Hutchison contributed to this story.
If you or anyone you know is considering suicide, the national 988 Lifeline number has counselors to help. Call 988 to speak with a trained listener or visit 988lifeline.org for crisis chat services or more information.
This story was originally published January 6, 2026 at 6:00 AM.
