On the evening of March 24, 2021, 21-year-old Brian Perry Belin Jr. was shot multiple times near the tennis courts and pool area of the Regency Park subdivision in Hiram, Georgia. Paulding County deputies arrived about 8:30 p.m. and found Belin had already died from his injuries. Witnesses said Belin had been involved in a dispute with another young man who fled after the shooting.

Investigators quickly identified 19-year-old James Graham Ward as the suspect; deputies arrested him the next morning at a residence in nearby Dallas without incident. Ward was charged with felony murder and held without bond. He claimed self-defense at trial, alleging Belin was armed, but a jury convicted him of felony murder and related charges. Ward was sentenced to life without parole plus 20 years; the Supreme Court of Georgia later affirmed the convictions in an appeal.

If anyone knew Brian or witnessed the incident near Regency Park that night, please come forward with information.