UPDATE: Macon man sentenced to 30 years in 2015 fatal shooting

UPDATED 3/20/18: Michael Hardy Jr. will spend at least the next 20 years in prison after pleaded guilty for his part in the shooting death of Vernard May, according to the Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office.

Hardy, 21, was sentenced to 30 years in prison, but will spend 20 years in prison if he testifies truthfully in the cases of two other men charged in May’s death.

Investigators determined Hardy and others shot Mays after knocking on his door to question him about a gun and drugs that someone hid on his property.

UPDATED 2/24/16 Another murder suspect has been arrested.  Curtis Dewayne Jackson Jr. is in the Bibb County Jail.  The 22-year-old was arrested last month in Killeen, Texas.  Jackson is also charged with two felony probation violations and a bond surrender.

UPDATED 1/26/16The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office has made a third arrest in the shooting death of one of its own.

19-year-old Jadarien Flowers was arrested in Riverside Garden Apartments. He is accused of being involved in the shooting death of warrants division worker, 23-year-old Vernard Mays. Flowers is charged with murder and probation violation. No bond has been set.

16-year-old Drayson MacDonald and 19-year-old Michael Dewayne Hardy, Junior are also in the Bibb County jailed, facing charges in Mays’ death. Both are charged with felony murder. MacDonald is charged as an adult.

UPDATED 1/29/15 Investigators with the Bibb County Sheriff’s Gang Unit and U.S. Marshals Southeastern Regional Fugitive Task Force made a fourth arrest in connection to the shooting death of a Bibb County Sheriff’s Office employee.

16-year-old Adonis Rhodes was booked and taken to the Macon Regional Youth Detention Center. He charged with murder for the death of 23-year-old Vernard Mays. Mays worked in the warrants division at the sheriff’s office. He was shot and killed at a home on Second Street in Macon on October 27th.

Rhodes is the fourth suspect arrested. No bond has been set.

In October, 19-year-old Jadarien Flowers was arrested and charged with murder and probation violation. 16-year-old Drayson MacDonald and 19-year-old Michael Dewayne Hardy, Junior are also in the Bibb County Jail, facing charges in Mays’ death. Both are charged with felony murder. MacDonald is charged as an adult.

Sheriff David Davis says a group of people knocked on the back door of 23-year-old Vernard Mays’ home on Second Street around 9:30 p.m. When Mays opened the door, several shots were fired and he was hit in the groin. Mays was sent to the hospital where he later died.

19-year-old Jadarien Flowers is accused of being involved in the shooting death of warrants division worker, 23-year-old Vernon Mays. Flowers is charged with murder and probation violation.

UPDATED 10/30/15 at 11:23 p.m.Investigators have also arrested 16-year-old Drayson MacDonald.  He was charged as adult for felony murder.  MacDonald is at the Macon Regional Youth Development Center.  No bond has been set.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Bibb deputies arrested 19-year-old Michael Dewayne Hardy Jr. for the murder of a Bibb County sheriff’s employee.

Sheriff David Davis says a group of people knocked on the back door of 23-year-old Vernard Mays’ home on Second Street around 9:30 p.m Tuesday. When Mays opened the door, several shots were fired and he was hit in the groin. Mays was sent to the hospital where he later died.

Hardy is charged with felony murder. He is booked in the Bibb County jail. No bond has been set.

“I don’t think they even knew him. It was a bad mistake,” May’s grandmother Lena Mays Billingslea told 41NBC.

She can only remember the good times she had with her grandson.

“He kept the family together,” she said. “I tell you he was just the type of person, he was about peace.”

Billingslea describes Mays as a level-headed person, even-keeled, and he had the voice of an angel. She remembers the call she got from Mays little brother the night he was killed.

“He hung up the phone and he called me back about 15 minutes later,” she said. “He said, ‘Grandma, ‘Nard is dead.'”

A K9 and investigators searched the area around Mays’ house in the rain Tuesday night looking for clues to figure out what happened.

“He had just started working for us and we had talked to him about maybe becoming a deputy,” Davis said. “At first he wanted to work as a civilian employee in our warrants section.”

Davis tells 41NBC Mays was hesitant to become a deputy because of his love for his church.

“Vernard was a good man, a church man. He was actively involved in the church,” Davis said. That was one of the reasons he wanted to work on the civilian side because he wanted to devote more time to his church activities.”

Billingslea remembers the relationship Mays had with his mother. The grandmother says Mays’ mother was the last person he spoke to before she died.

“She said he asked her ‘Mama, don’t let me die,’ but it wasn’t in her power. It was God’s will,” Billingslea said.

Davis says Mays was a civilian employee who worked in the warrants division of the sheriff’s office. He worked at the sheriff’s office for less than a year. Davis adds this is a tragic loss for the department and the community.

This is an ongoing investigation. If you have any information, call the Bibb Sheriff’s Office at (478) 751-7500 or Crimestoppers at 1-877-68-Crime.