A Fort Valley man is behind bars nearly a year after a shooting on Hinton Street left a visiting New Jersey resident dead, with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announcing the arrest almost twelve months to the day after the killing. Twenty-five-year-old Justin Jaleel Clark was taken into custody on August 14 and now faces murder and related charges in the death of 30-year-old Devonte Denzell McMillian.
According to the Valdosta Today, Peach County 911 received a shots-fired call at a home in the 500 block of Hinton Street in Fort Valley on the evening of August 30, 2025. Fort Valley Police Department officers arrived to find McMillian suffering from apparent gunshot wounds and began life-saving measures before he was taken to an area hospital. Per 13WMAZ, that hospital was Atrium Health Navicent in Macon, where McMillian died from his injuries early the next morning.
McMillian was living and working in Plainsfield, New Jersey, and was staying with his mother at her Fort Valley home at the time of the shooting, the station reports. A Georgia Bureau of Investigation medical examiner's office conducted an autopsy on his body, according to Valdosta Today.
Family Pressed for Answers Amid Long Investigation
The case dragged on for weeks with no arrest, and by early October 2025, McMillian's relatives had run out of patience. On October 1, 2025, the family organized a protest outside the Fort Valley Police Department demanding swifter action and accountability from investigators, according to the same 13WMAZ report.
The station also relayed comments from McMillian's mother, Latisha Hicks, who said that Clark and her son knew each other well prior to the fatal shooting. The exact nature of their relationship, and what led to the shooting, has not been disclosed.
GBI Steps In, Makes an Arrest Nearly a Year Later
The Fort Valley Police Department had requested Georgia Bureau of Investigation assistance with the death investigation, a common step for municipal agencies handling homicide cases. Per the GBI, smaller departments routinely lean on the state agency for specialized forensic, ballistics, and regional investigative support that local police may lack.
The GBI officially announced the arrest on August 18, confirming that Clark, a Fort Valley resident, was taken into custody four days earlier. He was booked into the Peach County Jail, a 116-bed facility in Fort Valley operated by the Peach County Sheriff's Office. Clark faces charges of murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, the agency says.
What Comes Next in the Case
The GBI says its investigation remains active and ongoing. Once it concludes, the case file will be turned over to the Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office, led by District Anita R. Howard, for review and prosecution.
Under Georgia law, a murder conviction carries statutory penalty options of life imprisonment with parole eligibility after 30 years, life imprisonment without parole, or the death penalty, according to Justia Law. Separately, the firearm possession charge carries a mandatory five-year prison sentence that must be served consecutively to any sentence for the underlying felony conviction.
The GBI is encouraging anyone with information about the case to contact its regional investigative office in Perry at 478-987-4545. Tips can also be submitted anonymously online, through the agency's tip submission website, or via the See Something, Send Something mobile app, as well as by calling 1-800-597-8477.
