3 teens charged with murder after plan to egg home turns deadly, deputies say

SPALDING COUNTY, Ga. (WFLA) – Three Georgia teenagers were charged with murder after their plot to egg a home as part of an "ongoing lovers quarrel" went wrong.

Deputies responded to a call of a "man down" in a Spalding County roadway on July 3, according to the Spalding County Sheriff's Office. When authorities arrived, they found the victim had been fatally shot. The sheriff's office identified him as Johnathan Gilbert.

In a statement, Sheriff Darrell Dix alleged that three teenagers — Sydney Maughon, 18, Jeremy Munson, 18, and McKenzie Davenport, 19 — were planning to vandalize Gilbert's home by egging it when Gilbert saw them and went outside.

"When Gilbert saw what they were doing to his residence, he came out of the house unarmed to confront them," the sheriff's office said. "The suspects ran back to the car, and as Gilbert approached them, Sydney Maughon, a backseat passenger in the car, produced a firearm and shot him multiple times. The suspects then drove away leaving Gilbert dead in the middle of Dobbins Mill Road."

Dix did not specify what the teenager's motive was other than it appeared that "there was an ongoing lovers quarrel."

According to the sheriff's office, investigators were able to find a cellphone number tied to one of the suspects and tracked it to a location in a neighboring county. When deputies arrived, they found a car that was believed to be used in the shooting. A gun was also recovered from the vehicle.

In a press release, Dix said all three teenagers were charged with malice murder, battery and criminal trespassing. Maughon and Munson were also charged with aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

While investigators believe Maughon is the one who allegedly fired the gun, Dix said all three teenagers are culpable because they went to Gilbert's home "with the intent to commit a crime."

"Because they all plotted and planned together, and travelled to the location with the intent to commit a crime that led up to the murder together, they are all culpable just as if they had each pulled the trigger themselves," Dix said in a statement. "They went to egg a house, the victim confronted them while they were doing it, he lost his life, and they drove off and left his body in the middle of the road. Together they bought that ticket; now together they can ride that ride."