Late on August 9, 2024, 73-year-old Larry Drayton was asleep in his home on the 1900 block of Gay Drive in Augusta when multiple shots were fired into the house and one bullet struck him in the back of the head. He survived the initial wound and was taken to Wellstar MCG, then spent seventeen days fighting his injuries before being transferred to Pruitt Healthcare Nursing Facility, where he died on August 26, 2024. The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office opened a homicide investigation into the shooting.

Drayton, a Black man born November 12, 1950, was remembered as a self-made entrepreneur, husband to Johnnie Drayton and a father. Funeral services included a viewing, a Celebration of Life and burial. No suspects have been publicly identified or arrested and the motive for the attack remains unclear.

If anyone has information about the shooting or saw activity near the 1900 block of Gay Drive on the night of August 9, please contact the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.