GRANTVILLE, Ga. — UPDATE: The arraignment was unexpectedly postponed to April due to the court's calendar being too full for Wednesday. The judge's docket for the morning had 126 cases listed on it.
ORIGINAL STORY:
The triple murder suspect in the killings last year of two Coweta County gun store owners and their grandson is set to be arraigned Wednesday morning.
The court proceeding is on the calendar for 8:30 a.m. Court records do not indicate how the suspect, Jacob Muse, intends to plea.
Muse, 21, was charged last year in a 16-count indictment with three counts each of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and an additional single count of armed robbery.
Authorities in Coweta County arrested Muse last April about a week after the killings of Tommy and Evelyn Hawk, the owners of Lock, Stock and Barrel in Grantville, as well as their grandson Luke.
At the time of his arrest, police in Grantville said Muse "frequented the store a good bit" and knew the Hawks. Three dozen guns and the store's security camera recording device were stolen during the triple homicide and robbery, according to police.
Grantville Police said guns were recovered at Muse's home in College Park when he was arrested.
The Hawk family released a statement at the time reacting to the arrest:
"We are encouraged and honored by the incredible efforts of our local law enforcement including the Grantville Police and Coweta County Sheriff's department, as well as the ATF and GBI. We understand from Chief Steve Whitlock that the current development with the murder suspect in custody, was certainly a team effort. We are continuing to pray for their teams during this stressful time, and we will continue to pray for the redemption of the perpetrator.
Thank you again, to the City of Grantville and the community at large for such an outpouring of love and support. It is so meaningful that so many in our community cherished them as we did and have helped to shine a light in the darkness.
Tommy, Evelyn and Luke Hawk have been laid to rest but, we will certainly see them again."
Shelby Wright, Luke's aunt, previously told 11Alive that the family is thankful for the support they have received from the public since the incident.
“Tommy and Evelyn and Luke were just Christian, hard-working, wonderful people,” she said. “We are just so grateful for the outpouring of support and all the prayers, and we just feel lifted up and loved, right now.”
Luke was set to graduate high school in just a month before the killings.
“He was sunshine,” Wright said. “He was just sunshine. Sweet, thoughtful, sensitive, just coming into his own. He was so excited to graduate in a month, he was so excited to go to Abraham Baldwin (Agricultural College), he was just ready to take that next step. And he loved his family. He loved his family.... They were just servants of the Lord... the kindest people you would ever meet.”