Mistaken identity ends in slaying, police say

Georgia man charged with assault, murder

A slaying in North Georgia started with a case of mistaken identity.

A couple of weeks ago, Rossville Police Department Detective Dave Scroggins said, Robert W. Ellis Jr. bumped into a woman at the Dollar Tree. He thought she was somebody else, somebody he didn’t like, someone with a penchant for causing trouble. He threatened her with a gun, Scroggins said.

The woman went home and told her boyfriend, Jeremy B. Little, 33. He had known Ellis for years. He called Ellis, 44, and asked him why he accosted his girlfriend.

“And it escalated from there,” Scroggins said.

Little told Ellis to leave his girlfriend alone. Ellis told Little to “kiss my ——.”

Eventually, Scroggins said, their dispute became more intense. Little busted out the windows on Ellis’ car. Ellis showed up at Little’s house, at 408 State Line Road, around 7 a.m. Wednesday and broke the windows to his car, as well. He also shattered the house windows.

About six-and-a-half hours later, for some reason, Scroggins said, Ellis returned to Little’s house. The two met in the backyard. Ellis allegedly shot Little in the head with a .45-caliber handgun. Little’s girlfriend, who was inside, called the police. Ellis fled.

Around 4:30 p.m., as officers were still looking for him, Ellis called 911 to turn himself in. Scroggins then interviewed him.

“I don’t want to go into the details of what his confession was,” the detective said Thursday. “But he admitted to shooting Little in the head.”

Police charged Ellis with murder, two counts of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and criminal damage to property.