Murder suspect shot one man and dragged another with a car Memorial Day weekend, cops say

Julius Doby shot one man to death Memorial Day weekend and critically injured a second by shooting him, running him over and dragging him underneath a car, a police officer testified Thursday in Columbus Recorder’s Court.

Detective Sherman Hayes said police cleared the case with the aid of the car’s satellite tracking device, which gave investigators a timeline and map of where the suspect and his victims traveled before the shootings, and where the car went afterward.

Doby, 28, is accused of fatally shooting Johnny Hawkins Jr. and critically injuring Hawkins’ childhood friend Jarvis Devontae Moore, who Hayes said remains hospitalized in critical condition with cranial damage that deformed his head.

Police called to Kendrick Avenue and Thornton Drive around 11:30 p.m. May 25 found Hawkins dead on the front porch of a home in the 200 block of Kendrick Avenue, and discovered Moore just 50 to 100 yards away in the 200 block of Thornton Drive, Hayes said.

Officers at the scene collected 9-millimeter bullet casings and photographed about 200 feet of tire marks on the street, where witnesses told them a silver four-door car had run Moore over and dragged him, Hayes said.

Checking into Hawkins’ background, police learned he had borrowed a friend’s silver, four-door 2012 Nissan Sentra that weekend, and the car had a GPS tracking device, Hayes said.

Tracking the car online, investigators saw it was at Lumpkin Park Apartments, 3351 N. Lumpkin Road, where they found it abandoned with damage to the left front end and blood smeared underneath it from the front of the car to the tailpipe, the detective said.

Using the tracking device to retrace the vehicle’s route on May 25, they saw the car had been at the Lumpkin Park Apartments at 9:31 p.m. Some women living there told officers Hawkins had visited them with a man they knew as “Ju-Ju,” whom they identified as Doby when shown a photo lineup with his picture in it, Hayes said.

The car’s track showed it left the apartments and traveled at 10:06 p.m. to Phenix City, where Hawkins and Doby picked up Moore, then left there in two minutes and returned to Columbus, the officer said.

At 10:35 p.m., the car was at Steam Mill Place off Steam Mill Road, where Doby has a girlfriend, Hayes said. The Nissan left there at 10:51 p.m. to return to Lumpkin Park for around five minutes before traveling to Kendrick Avenue and Thornton Drive, which is where it was when 911 calls reported the shooting, the detective said.

Police further confirmed Doby’s movements with his Steam Mill Place girlfriend, who told officers he left there about 10:30 p.m. and did not return until after midnight, the detective said.

When police questioned Doby on May 30, he claimed he never left Steam Mill Place, Hayes said.

Though he remains in critical condition, having lost fingers and sustained severe head injuries, Moore, 24, has been able at least to “outline” what happened, confirming Doby shot him and Hawkins, Hayes said.

Hawkins, 25, was pronounced dead at 12:55 a.m. on May 26, according to Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan.

Doby is charged with murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault and being a felon with a firearm. The latter charge stems from his having served prison time in Alabama for shooting at a Phenix City police officer, Hayes said.

The detective said he did not know what sparked the dual assaults. Police have “several theories,” none of which they’ve been able to confirm, he said.

Judge Julius Hunter found probable cause to send Doby’s case on to Muscogee Superior Court, ordering him held without bond.

This story was originally published August 1, 2019 at 2:04 PM.