On the evening of April 10, 2025, Marcus Adam Battles, 39, was found inside his vehicle on the 3000 block of US Highway 117 in Mentone, Alabama, after a report of a car crashing into a residence at about 6:16 p.m. He was suffering from a gunshot wound and died at the scene. The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office ruled his death a homicide.

Investigators concluded the shooting was likely a random act connected to a road rage encounter; authorities believe Battles was shot while driving on Highway 117, lost control and struck a nearby home. Family members said they think he was followed into his driveway and then shot. A witness reported seeing shots fired from a black car, and tips from across the country helped narrow the search.

After a 21-day multiagency investigation that included the FBI and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, investigators identified 23-year-old Christopher Braden Jones of Calhoun, Georgia, as the primary suspect. Jones was arrested in Gordon County, Georgia, on May 1, 2025, on unrelated charges; a capital murder warrant was later issued in DeKalb County and Jones was extradited and booked into the DeKalb County Jail on February 4, 2026, to face charges in Battles’ death.

Did anyone in the Mentone area see a black car or have information about road rage incidents on Highway 117 that night?