WALTON COUNTY, Ga. -- The Walton County Sheriff's Office announced, Thursday, it is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest of a husband accused of murder.
Authorities are on the lookout for Jerome Ray Mobley, the estranged husband of a woman found dead in Walton County Wednesday morning.
According to Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman, the call came in around 7 a.m. near the intersection of Knox Chapel Road and Knox Circle.
Sheriff Chapman said the crime erupted from a domestic situation between the husband, 39-year-old Jerome Ray Mobley, and his wife.
Mobley is accused of repeatedly abusing his wife and accused of fatally shooting her early Wednesday morning in their Walton County home. Police said it possibly happened in front of their children.
Chapman said they were in the process of getting a divorce.
Now on the run, Sheriff Chapman said he doesn't want Mobley injuring anyone else.
Police said just after shooting his wife around 6:30 a.m., he fled the scene. His pick-up truck was found abandoned about a mile down the road from the victim's home.
Walton officials have concentrated their search for Mobley in the thick woods, just across the county line, in Morgan County near Knox Chapel Road.
The sheriff said Mobley may be wounded or injured and that his wife may have been able to return fire and shoot him as he was killing her.
“We may suspect that he has been injured," Sheriff Chapman said. "We don’t know if it’s from a gunshot, or what but we do believe he’s been injured.”
Once caught, Mobley faces charges of felony murder, aggravated assault and, two counts of cruelty to a child in the first degree.
A statement from the department warns the public that Mobley is considered armed and dangerous.
PHOTOS: Estranged husband on the loose, accused of killing wife
“This poor lady had tried everything she could to keep the ex-husband away from her,” Marita Howard told 11Alive.
Howard, a neighbor, said she’s seen law enforcement come to the couple’s rented house before and the victim confided in Howard that she was divorcing her husband because he abused her.
“I mean, it had to have been very hard for her, you know, just living in fear like that," Howard said. "Knowing that the ex-husband was harassing her and getting the restraining order, and just everything she was doing just couldn't keep him away.”
Officials are urging the public to call 911 if Mobley is spotted but they also insisting locals to avoid confronting him.
