Beloved historian murdered because killers “hit” the wrong house

 Kicklighter was “Unintended Target” in Glenville murder case

Beloved historian murdered because killers “hit” the wrong house

Lewis Levine and Patty Leon

Beloved Glennville historian Bobby Kicklighter was murdered because the suspects hired by an inmate to kill a Correctional Officer, entered the wrong home. Bobby Kicklighter was found deceased in his home from gunshot wounds on Pinewood Lane in Glennville on Jan. 30, 2021.

On August 23, three people were charged in the murder investigation. Christopher Sumlin was charged with murder, home invasion-1st degree, aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit a felony (murder), tampering with evidence, party to a crime, hindering apprehension or punishment of a criminal, false statements or writings, elder abuse, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Aerial Murphy was charged with conspiracy to commit a felony (murder), tampering with evidence, party to a crime, hindering the apprehension or punishment of a criminal, and false statements and writings.

Keisha Jones was charged with conspiracy to commit a felony (murder), tampering with evidence, and party to a crime.

On Aug. 25, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation also charged Nathan Weekes, 25, an inmate with the Georgia Department of Corrections, after their investigation found Weekes had participated in contraband smuggling at Smith State Prison. Weekes is charged with conspiracy to commit a felony (murder) and party to a crime in connection with the killing of Kicklighter. He is currently serving time for multiple counts of Armed Robbery. GBI says the investigation into contraband smuggling is related to the murder investigation.

Testimony provided in Tattnall County Superior Court on Sept. 29^th, by GBI Agent Christian Johnson outlined a murder for hire plot involving Weekes and the other codefendants. Johnson said the intended victim was a Correctional Officer at Smith State Prison. The unidentified Correctional Officer still works at the prison.

Johnson said when the GBI arrived at the scene of the crime they found a side door kicked in and they found several .22 caliber shell casings at the scene. He said his agents were able to collect evidence due to the home security cameras. He said they also recovered a face mask on the roadway near the driveway. He said the mask had a name written on the tag. The mask was connected to Ariel Murphy's grandmother who told authorities she loaned her granddaughter a vehicle the night of the murder.  Johnson said they were able to do a DNA test on the mask which matched DNA taken from Sumlin, tying him to the scene.

Johnson said the Correction Officer was proactive in seizing large quantities of illegal contraband being smuggled into the Prison. Sumlin who was once housed at Smith State Prison knew Weekes and allegedly plotted with the other co-defendants to have the Correctional Officer killed.

The defendants moved forward with their murder for hire plot and thought they killed the Correctional Officer. Johnson said they were later stunned to hear that the Correctional Officer was reported to still be alive.
“He was an unintended target,” Johnson said about Kicklighter being the victim of the vicious attack. Johnson added that the Correctional Officer once lived one house down from Kicklighter and both drove similar looking white pickup trucks. “And I will also add that now that we know a GPS was not used and the location of the address being quite dark in that area…he (Kicklighter) was an unintended target.”

Johnson said they discovered texts between Weekes, Jones and Sumlin regarding the conspiracy and spoke with a credible witness that placed Sumlin and Murphy at the scene of the crime. The witness detailed how the suspects got rid of the weapon by tossing it into a large body of water. The GBI agent also testified that cash was exchanged between the defendants as they sought to kill the Correctional Officer who was seizing the prison contraband.

Superior Court Judge D. Jay Stewart denied bond for Murphy and Jones. Sumlin’s bond was set at $750,000 cash or 1.5 million in property.

Weekes has also been charged by the Georgia Department of Corrections with 19 contraband related warrants, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, two counts of unauthorized possession of weapon by inmate and 16 counts of items prohibited for possession by inmates without the consent of the warden.

According to his obituary Kicklighter, 88, was a beloved father, grandfather, and friend to all who knew him. He was a 1948 graduate of Glennville High School, where he played baseball and football.

After high school, he served his country honorably in the United States Air Force from 1952 to 1956, stationed for a time in Greenland, during the Korean War. He then entered the civil service at Fort Stewart and ultimately retired as Chief Civilian Finance Officer after over three decades of dedicated service.

Among his other accomplishments, Kicklighter was a noted local historian and was proud to serve on the Board of Trustees of the Glennville-Tattnall Museum. In recent years he had taken an active role in the restoration of the historic Glennwanis Hotel as a new home for the museum. He served as Chairman of the original Glennville Centennial Committee, which organized the city’s centennial celebrations in 1994, culminating in the opening of the museum that same year.