Candace LeShae Chrzan was 17 and a senior at Mount Zion High School when she was killed on the evening of March 30, 2021, in Mount Zion, Georgia. She had just picked up her cap and gown and was active in music, playing clarinet in the concert and marching bands, and also enjoyed soccer and martial arts. She was with three friends in a backyard on Bowdon Junction Road shooting at plastic bottles with a .22 caliber pistol when the firearm jammed. After Candace handed the gun to a 17-year-old classmate, Jeremy Matthew Gray, the weapon discharged and struck her in the head. Her injury proved fatal.

The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office described the incident as a horrific tragedy and investigators determined the shooting was likely accidental; those present cooperated. The gun belonged to Gray’s late grandfather. Gray was arrested and initially charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct, and possession of a firearm by a person under 18.

Charges against Gray were upgraded in 2023 to murder and aggravated assault, then later the case was presented to a Carroll County grand jury. By February 2026 the grand jury returned an indictment charging Gray with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct, possession of a firearm by a person under 18, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony; he waived arraignment and pleaded not guilty.