Valdosta State University student Nick Rawls was shot multiple times with an assault rifle
VALDOSTA, GA -- Authorities announced Wednesday that an arrest has been made in the 2003 death of a Valdosta State University student.
Cmdr. Brian Childress of the Valdosta Police Department said that on Sept. 2, 2010 a murder warrant was served to 24-year-old Michael Anthony Thomas, Jr. at the Macon State Prison in Oglethorpe. When asked why authorities waited seven weeks to release this information to the public, Childress said doing so could have potentially interfered with the investigation.
Thomas is currently serving five years in prison for an unrelated 2009 child cruelty case. He is now charged in the shooting death of 25-year-old Valdosta State University student Nick Rawls.
On Sept. 18, 2003, police responded to the 2000 block of Melrose Drive shortly before 1 a.m. Rawls had been shot multiple times with an assault rifle and was transported to South Georgia Medical Center. Rawls died the following day.
Police initiated a murder investigation following Rawls' death. The investigation was eventually assigned to the department’s Cold Case Investigative Unit (CCIU) in the summer of 2009. After a year-long investigation by CCIU which took detectives to Germany, Det. Stephen Thompson, Det. Scottie Johns, and Sgt. Kyle Salter developed evidence to file charges against Thomas.
The CCIU continues to investigate the case and has not ruled out filing additional charges on Thomas or other individuals who are being investigated as accomplices.
When asked why it took seven years to make an arrest in the case, Childress said "in the beginning there was very little cooperation from witnesses."
Anyone with information about this case is urged to call the Valdosta Police Department at (229) 293-3145 or the Crime Tip Line at (229) 293-3091.
Read more on this story at the Valdosta Daily Times www.valdostadailytimes.com
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