Antonio Thornton Jr., a 17-year-old high school senior from Loganville, Georgia, was shot and killed outside the Magnolia Lane Apartments along U.S. Highway 80 in Bloomingdale. At about 7:43 a.m. on December 14, 2025, Chatham County 911 received a call reporting a body; Bloomingdale officers found Antonio suffering from a gunshot wound and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was asked to assist and Antonio’s body was taken to the GBI Crime Lab in Pooler for an autopsy.

Antonio, known as TJ, had been visiting relatives in the Savannah area. His family remembered him as a strong student taking calculus, a basketball fan who hoped to become an engineer, and someone expected to graduate in May 2026. Investigators initially released few details about what led him to the apartment complex or whether he had arranged to meet anyone there.

By December 27 authorities had arrested Franklin Leonard James Jr., then 16, and on December 29 they arrested Terrance Devon Green, then 17; both were later indicted on charges including murder and armed robbery, with prosecutors alleging Antonio was robbed of a cellphone and shot with a .45-caliber handgun. As of March 24, 2026, neither defendant has been found guilty and the case remains in the pretrial phase.

Did anyone in the Bloomingdale or Savannah area see Antonio that morning or know why he was at the Magnolia Lane Apartments?