On the morning of October 25, 2025, Pierce County deputies responded to a 911 call at a home on Georgia Highway 121 South in the St. Johns community and found 64-year-old Virgil Lester Chaney and his 37-year-old son, Christopher Levi Chaney, dead of apparent gunshot wounds. The scene was described by the chief investigator as one of the worst he had ever witnessed. Virgil Chaney was a retired boilermaker and former owner of Chaney’s Sewing Center; family recalled both men as good-hearted and helpful to others.

Law enforcement arrested 30-year-old Avery James Courson of Blackshear at a nearby Circle K about an hour after the call. Courson was charged with multiple counts, including malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and was denied bond. Court documents in a March 2026 indictment allege Courson shot both men in the head with a 12-gauge shotgun and pointed the weapon at a woman in the home without firing at her. Authorities have not publicly disclosed a motive.

Did anyone in the St. Johns or Blackshear area know the Chaneys or have information about the events that morning?