Farmer recalls encounter with suspect in Brooks Co. double homicide

QUITMAN, Ga. (WALB) - An arrest has been made following a double homicide in Brooks County.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said two men were shot and killed on Emerson Road Wednesday.

Kenny Pruitt, of Cleveland, Ohio now faces around half a dozen charges.

Agents said Pruitt and three other men traveled to Quitman, from Cleveland, Ohio on Sunday. One of the victims was traveling to the area to visit family, and the others came with him.

“I was shocked,” said Jared Basulto, a farmer in the area.

Basulto did not want to go on camera but he shared with us what he experienced Wednesday.

He said it was like a scene out of a movie. Basulto explained that he was mowing cotton stalks on his tractor when he saw a man come out of the woods with his hands in the air. He said he could see some blood on the man’s shirt.

“So I thought he may have been in a car accident or something, so I did stop and he told me he was in a bad situation. And I was just like, ‘Oh lord here we go.’ Next thing I know, he tells me he shot his friends because they were trying to shoot him first or something like that,” Basulto told WALB News 10.

He said it was around 2:45 in the afternoon.

Basulto said the man wanted him to call 911 so he told him to follow him back to the dirt road.

“And I called my other bossman, Brandon, and told him he needs to come ASAP and next thing you know, I see him turn and ran towards the railroad track,” said Basulto.

Officers found Pruitt later, about two to three miles away in a peanut field, according to Basulto.

Basulto said he saw a gray SUV parked in the ditch horizontally, but couldn’t see anyone.

Farmers in the area were shaken up after hearing what happened on Wednesday.

Leroy Lamons said he heard the story from other farmers but didn’t see anything himself.

"It’s, it’s scary you know, working you know, not expecting what could be going on. You know at work, never knowing about it,” said Lamons.

One of the victims has been identified as John Timothy Thompson, 56, of East Liverpool, Ohio.

The second victim’s identity is being withheld until next of kin can be reached.

Investigators are still working to see what led to the shooting.

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