On May 14, 1973, six members of the Alday family were killed in their mobile home in Donalsonville, Georgia. Jerry Nelson Alday, 35, was among those murdered after four men who had recently escaped from prison in Maryland arrived at the property intending to burglarize it for gasoline and valuables. Jerry and his father Ned walked into the scene and were taken at gunpoint and shot. Other family members who returned later — including Jerry’s brother Jimmy, his uncle Aubrey, his cousin Chester, and his wife Mary — were also ambushed and killed; Mary Alday was sexually assaulted before she was killed.

The perpetrators were identified as brothers Carl and William Billy Isaacs, Wayne Carl Coleman, and George Elder Dungee. A multi-state manhunt led to their capture in West Virginia within days. At trial, Billy Isaacs testified against the others and received a 40-year sentence; Carl Isaacs, Wayne Coleman, and George Dungee were convicted and sentenced to death.

Are there readers who remember Donalsonville in 1973 or who can add details about the Alday family and the community impact of these killings?