James Andrew Wise, 32, known as Baby James, was found fatally shot in the neck inside a residence on the 1900 block of Cooney Circle in the Jennings Place housing development in Augusta on the evening of Saturday, February 15, 2025. Deputies from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office arrived about 6:10 p.m.; Coroner Mark Bowen pronounced Wise dead at the scene at 7:09 p.m. Friends and clients remembered him as a talented tattoo artist who showed love to those around him.

The slaying was the seventh homicide in Augusta that year and prompted an outpouring of grief, including a balloon release at Dyess Park on what would have been his 33rd birthday. Investigators identified three suspects: two 16-year-olds, Lucas Bradley and Tayvioun Harden, were arrested and booked—Bradley on a murder charge and Harden on murder and armed robbery charges—and an 18-year-old, Tyrule Da'Mario Tillman, was sought on murder and firearm charges and later arrested on Strickland Court. As of February 2025 the matter was moving through the judicial system.

If anyone knew James, his routines, or has information about the shooting, please share what is known with investigators.