COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) – A Saturday late night shooting in Columbus claimed the life of a 19-year-old man, exactly one month to the day from his 19th birthday.

News 3 arrived to the scene when daylight broke on Sunday morning. Leftover crime scene tape could be seen tied up to a trash can labeled, “Columbus, Georgia we do amazing.” This homicide marks the 23rd homicide in Columbus for 2022.

Around 11:30 pm on Saturday, August 6th the Columbus Police Department responded to the 4300 block of Earline Avenue. That’s where they discovered two gunshot victims.

One of those was 19-year-old Jahiem Thomas. Thomas and the other victim were both transported to Piedmont Columbus Regional but that’s where the teen was pronounced dead. The cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds.

Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan tells WRBL, informing a parent about the death of their child never gets easier. Here’s what he has to say about the harsh reality.

“We need to keep this family in our prayers. Who would expect their 19-year-old son to get killed on a Saturday night, and then all of a sudden they’re faced with an $18,000 funeral bill. That’s pretty devastating. But families don’t take out insurance policies on their children and they think that, you know, the children are going to be burying them. They’re not supposed to be burying their children. But believe me, if you’ve got children taking out an insurance policy, it’s not like you want them to be dead, but you better be financially ready for it.”

Buddy Bryan, Muscogee County Coroner

It’s a harsh reality that has become more common these days. Which is why you see gofundme’s go viral, to cover funeral costs.

This time last year Columbus had 42 homicides. In 2022 that number sits at 23. That’s 19 fewer homicides than this time last year, a drastic decrease.