2017’s second murder recorded Fatal argument had started days earlier, then escalated on social media
A Rossville man shot and killed a longtime acquaintance last week, apparently due to an argument that had festered for days.
At about 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 8, Robert W. Ellis Jr., 44, of Henderson Avenue, went to the residence of 33-year-old Jeremy Little, at 408 State Line Road, shot Little in the head with a .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun and fled the scene, police said. Ellis has been charged with murder.
Rossville Police Detective Dave Scroggins said the shooting did not erupt -contrary to other published reports -- over a posting on social media.
“This was not over a Facebook post argument,” Scroggins said.
Scroggins said the two men had known one another for years. Once the dispute began, Ellis intensified it with his online posts.
Rossville Police Chief Sid Adams said the dispute appears to have begun a few days earlier when outside The Dollar Tree store in Rossville Ellis, high on methamphetamine, pulled a gun on Little’s girlfriend, mistaking her for another woman.
Tuesday, March 9, the day before the slaying, Ellis reported to police that someone had slashed his car’s tires, the chief said, adding that Ellis assumed Little had done it in retaliation for the incident outside the store.
The next day Ellis went to Little’s residence, beat on the house and pickup truck with a bat but Little did not come outside, Adams said.
The suspect returned later that day — at about 1:30 p.m.— at which time Little came outside and was shot in the head while in his backyard, Adams said.
Hearing the gunshot, Little’s girlfriend rushed outside to find him on the ground, bleeding.
Adams said. Ellis and the woman, who identified him from the incident at the Dollar Tree, exchanged words before he fled the scene.
The victim was transported to Erlanger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Rossville police and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents surrounded Ellis’ residence and at about 4 p.m., Ellis called Walker County 911 and surrendered to the officers without incident.
Ellis, in addition to murder, was charged with criminal damage to property (business); receipt/ possession/transfer of firearm by a convicted felon or felony first offender; and two counts of aggravated assault.
Adams said Ellis had prior felony charges that made it unlawful for him to possess a firearm.
Neighbors say they heard a gunshot that morning
A Rossville couple who live near the house where the slaying occurred say they heard a gunshot earlier that day.
Robin Borders and her husband David live on Gordon Street, diagonally across from where the fatal shooting occurred.
The couple said they routinely hear a loud ruckus of activity in the area at night and into the early morning hours.
At about 8 a.m. on the day of the fatal shooting, the couple said they heard a gunshot and called police who searched the area but found nothing..
Later that day, at the time of the murder, the couple heard one — possibly two — gunshots, Robin said.
She said they heard a woman screaming. Upon going outside, they found a red-haired woman bent over a man laying on the ground, unresponsive.
Robin said she called 911 as did someone that was inside the victim’s home
Robin said neither she nor her husband saw the shooter or witnessed the shooting.
She said the red-haired woman told her that she knew who the shooter was and that he had fled.
Robin said the victim was not breathing and was bleeding from the ear.
“It was awful,” she said.