A Sylvania man faces multiple charges, including murder, in connection with the shooting death of 30-year-old Deontre Mincey of Portal on Oct. 25. But the primary suspect, whom police believe pulled the trigger, remains at large.

Along with murder, Timothy Ward, 22, of Davis St. in Sylvania, is charged with two counts of aggravated assault, aggravated assault/party to a crime and terroristic threats and acts for his alleged role in Mincey’s death.

According to Statesboro Police, the incident in question occurred shortly after 1 a.m. Oct. 25, when shots were fired in the parking lot of 200 Lanier Drive, a commercial strip containing Cowboy’s Bar and Grill and a Smoke Crave location. Upon arrival, SPD officers discovered the victim deceased on the scene from a gunshot wound.

The victim – Mincey – was quickly identified using an SPD portable fingerprint scanner. 

Multiple detectives responded to the scene and reviewed video surveillance and accessed Flock tag reader data. Through the use of various technologies, forensic work, interviews and search warrants, detectives were able to quickly identify Khalir Nickens as the primary suspect, Capt. Jared Akins said in a release from the SPD.

A felony murder warrant was issued on Oct. 26 for Nickens, also from Sylvania, but he has not been located. 

“The warrants (for Nickens) are still active and being worked by the U.S. Marshals Service,” Akins said in an email Friday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Statesboro Police Chief Mike Broadhead said Friday that Ward was “involved in the fight at Cowboys Bar and Grill that resulted in (Mincey) being murdered.

“Our contention is not that he was the trigger man in the murder, but that he set things in motion that directly led to the murder.”

Anyone with information on the case or on Nickens’s wherabouts is requested to contact Senior Det. Dustin Cross at (912) 764-9911. Submit an anonymous tip by visiting https://statesboropd.com/