Editor's note: This article has been revised to reflect the following correction, which appears in Friday's print edition: Tarell Momom, 34, who is one of four suspects arrested in the June 30 killing of Michael Anthony Riley in his Greenbriar Trail home, has been in prison since 1996 on charges of kidnapping and other serious crimes, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections website. A front-page article Wednesday listed the wrong suspect as being imprisoned on those charges. The Statesboro Herald regrets the error.
A man suspected in the recent slaying of a Statesboro man was shot and killed Monday in Augusta as he resisted arrest, authorities said.
On the same day, the daughter of a woman charged in the killing of her husband was arrested.
Travis Lorenzo Berrian, 29, of Augusta, fired shots inside the state probation office in Augusta when probation officers tried taking him into custody, Georgia Bureau of Investigation Region 7 Special Agent-in-Charge Pat Morgan said.
Berrian's probation officer called him into the office after Statesboro police notified them Berrian was a suspect in the death of Michael Riley, and asked for the officer's assistance in his arrest, Morgan said. Riley was found slain June 30 in his home on Greenbriar Trail.
Berrian, who had a gun concealed on his person when he entered the probation office, struggled with probation officers trying to take him into custody, and shot a female probation officer, Sherrill Warren, in the abdomen. Warren is "expected to make a full recovery," Morgan said.
Berrian was also shot during the struggle, but GBI agents have not released information as to whether a second firearm was involved. "Two shots were fired," Morgan said. Berrian and Warren were taken to Georgia Regents Medical Center, where Berrian was pronounced dead.
An autopsy is slated for Wednesday in Atlanta. Morgan said additional information is expected to be released after the autopsy is completed.
Katrina Denise Ledford, 29, of Davisboro, was charged Monday with murder, Statesboro Public Safety Director Wendell Turner said.
She is the daughter of Antoinette Braddy Riley, 48, of Greenbriar Trail, who was arrested July 1 for the June 30 killing of her husband, Michael Anthony Riley, 51, who was shot in his home.
Ledford was arrested with the assistance of the Washington County Sheriff's Office and is currently being held at the Bulloch County Jail without bond, awaiting court hearings, Turner said.
"Further details of this case are not being released at this time as the case is still under investigation," Turner said.
According to The Augusta Chronicle, Berrian has a history of criminal activity. He was on probation for convictions of aggravated assault, second-degree criminal damage to property and criminal use of an article with an altered identification mark stemming from incidents in February 2008.
Berrian was court-ordered to undergo counseling, random drug testing, and to earn a General Educational Developmental diploma, according to reports.
The Chronicle reported that Berrian, then 18, was wanted in 2003 by the Richmond County Sheriff's Office on a charge of first-degree criminal damage to property. He was accused of firing a rifle at a car and an apartment. A police search yielded "a stash of weapons, and at least one was stolen."
In 2004, Berrian was indicted on charges of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, according to reports.
In 2010, The Chronicle reported that Berrian was identified as a suspect in the "execution-style" slaying of two female teens found dead near a wooded path on Thanksgiving Day that year. He was never arrested in relation to the crime.
The following agencies assisted the Statesboro police in the murder investigation: Bulloch County Sheriff's Office, U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force, Georgia Bureau of Investigation (Region 5, Statesboro; Region 7, Thomson; and Region 12, Eastman); Washington County Sheriff's Office and Richmond County Sheriff's Office.
Others arrested in the case are Tarell Momom, 34, an inmate in Jackson State Prison, and Terrance Ray Griswould, 28, of Augusta.
Statesboro police have not released details of how Momom was involved in the killing of Michael Riley. Mamom has been in prison since 1996 on charges of kidnapping and other serious crimes, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections website.
All the suspects are charged with murder.
Anyone with information concerning this case is asked to contact Statesboro police Detective Kevin Wadley at (912) 764-9911.
Anonymous tips may also be submitted to www.tipsoft.com or by sending a text message beginning with "TIPSSPD" to 274637 (CRIMES). All information is strictly confidential, Turner said.
Holli Deal Bragg may be reached at (912) 489-9414.