Jerry Self, a 34-year-old white man, was shot and killed in Floyd County, Georgia on August 21, 1992. He returned to his home to find a light brown Oldsmobile Cutlass parked in his carport and, after calling police from his cellular phone about the suspicious vehicle, was confronted by a man who was burglarizing the house. The intruder shot Self while he sat inside his truck in the driveway.

Police apprehended 21-year-old Gary Chad Thomason the same day. Thomason was charged with malice murder, burglary, and possession of a firearm by a felon during the commission of a burglary. He pled guilty, waived a jury trial, and in October 1996 a judge found the murder occurred during a burglary with intent to steal. Thomason was sentenced to death; the Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the conviction and sentence in July 1997, upholding searches, seizures, and eyewitness identifications.

What information do readers have about Jerry Self’s life or about the circumstances that night that might help provide more context?