DOUGLAS, Ga. (AP) - Eight men have been indicted for involvement in the choking and beating death of a man at a south Georgia wedding reception on New Year’s Day.
WALB-TV reports the men were indicted Wednesday in Coffee County in the death of 39-year-old Warren Van Brown during a fight.
Justin Joe Anderson and Jeffery Harper are both charged with malice murder and felony murder. Anderson is also charged with aggravated assault and evidence tampering, with police saying he tried to hide a baton that was used to beat Brown at the reception in Ambrose.
Matthew Lewis is also indicted for evidence tampering for allegedly hiding the baton.
Five other men are indicted for reckless conduct, with officials saying they restrained Brown, preventing him from defending himself. One of those, Daniel Paulk Anderson, was also indicted on a second count of reckless conduct for allegedly firing a gun near Brown.
Coffee County Coroner Brandon Musgrove said Brown died from asphyxiation in conjunction with multiple blunt force trauma injuries. He said Brown had cuts to his head and that Brown was hit in the head with an object.
It’s unclear if any of the men have lawyers to speak for them. Justin Anderson and Jeffery Harper remained jailed in Coffee County.
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