Columbus woman fatally shot Saturday marks city’s 46th homicide of 2020, a new peak

A 20-year-old Columbus woman, allegedly killed by a man with whom she had a relationship, marks the city’s 46th homicide of a peak year near its end.

Police called at 1:43 p.m. Saturday to 827 33rd Ave. found Chasity Walker with a gunshot wound, officers said.

She was rushed to the emergency room at Piedmont Columbus Regional, where she was pronounced dead at 3:53 p.m., said Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan.

Investigators charged 21-year-old Jamari Sider with murder, and asked that anyone with information on the shooting or the relationship between Walker and Sider contact Sgt. Donald Kraus at 706-225-4374 or dkraus@columbusga.org.

Sider’s preliminary hearing in Columbus Recorder’s Court is set for 9 a.m. Monday.

Columbus now is two homicides past a recent peak of 44 in 2017, which marked an abrupt increase from 28 in 2016. It had 41 homicides in 2019 and 34 in 2018.

This story was originally published December 27, 2020 at 2:32 PM.

Tim Chitwood

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

706-571-8508

Tim Chitwood is from Seale, Alabama, and started as a police beat reporter with the Ledger-Enquirer in 1982. He since has covered Columbus’ serial killings and other homicides, following some from the scene of the crime to trial verdicts and ensuing appeals. He also has been a Ledger-Enquirer humor columnist since 1987. He’s a graduate of Auburn University, and started out working for the weekly Phenix Citizen in Phenix City, Ala.