Putnam County Standoff Ends With Murder Suspect Dead

An Eatonton man is dead after a short standoff Sunday night. He is believed to be responsible for a murder in Jasper County.

The GBI says they were first called by the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office Sunday night about a murder in Monticello.

41-year-old Kira Ammons was found shot. She died later.

Witnesses said the shooter was 38-year-old James David Mathis, who is from Eatonton.

Putnam County Sheriff’s deputies headed to Mathis’ home on Glenwood Springs Road, southwest of Eatonton.

When deputies arrived, they was gunfire. One of those shots hit the back of a Putnam County Sheriff’s police cruiser.

Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills says none of his deputies were hurt and none of his deputies fired their weapons.

Mathis’ body was eventually found outside the home. Investigators believe he shot himself.

Sheriff Sills says Ammons and Mathis had a relationship at the time of the shooting.

Here is more from the GBI, which is treating the case as a murder-suicide.