Grace McAlister
Reporter1@riverbendnews.org
On Thursday, Dec. 29, at 11:13 a.m., the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) responded to an apparent shooting at Mama's Burgers, in Jasper. According to a report from the HCSO, the victim, 48-year-old Jerry Dean Holbrook, was deceased when deputies arrived. A witness contacted the HCSO, stating they had followed the alleged shooter, later identified as 26-year-old Kenneth Cody Izell. "We have never had an incident like this where somebody just walks up and shoots someone in broad daylight in front of so many people," Sheriff Reid stated.
The report filed by the HCSO states Izell fired at Holbrook five times before departing in a white truck pulling a trailer. The truck was followed by a witness east on County Road 6, in Hamilton County. The witness kept the truck in sight until law enforcement was able to conduct a traffic stop on the vehicle. Deputy Benjamin Bennet and Captain Michael Holton placed Izell in restraints and transported him to the Hamilton County Jail. At the jail, a search revealed that Izell was in possession of five .22 caliber live rounds. Inside the truck, there was a revolver containing five spent shell casings and four unfired rounds.
Izell was charged with premeditated first-degree homicide. No motive has been determined. This investigation is still ongoing.
Holbrook was born in Kennesaw, Ga., on Oct. 30, 1974, to the late Jimmy Lee Holbrook and Cynthia Carroll Holbrook. He enjoyed riding down Hamilton County’s dirt roads, and his biggest passions were building and fishing. Holbrook’s friends and family recall that he gave the best hugs and loved to make people laugh, almost as much as he liked fishing. His family lived in Jennings and Atlanta, but Jasper was always his home.
He was preceded in death by his father, Jimmy Lee Holbrook. Survivors include his five daughters: Darien Kay Morgan, Kylie Octava Long, Bailee Dean Franklin, Naomi Grace Holbrook and Kassandra Gayle Robertson; his mother, Cindy Holbrook; his two brothers, Donnie Lee Thompson and John Otis Holbrook; his sisters: Sheena Ruth Holbrook, Tia Marie Holbrook and Sibyl Bass Reagan; three grandchildren: Ayla Rosario Morgan, Alan Mauricio Morgan and Ziya Lynn Franklin; numerous aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins.
Memorial services for Holbrook were held on Monday, Jan. 2, in the chapel of Harry T. Reid Funeral Home, in Jasper.