Frank Davis Jr. became Statesboro’s eighth homicide victim of 2020 when he was shot to death Monday evening at his residence on Dunlap Street.

The Statesboro Police Department has obtained an arrest warrant for Kaeshawn Malik Hodges, 19, of Statesboro on a felony murder charge and firearms-related charges in connection with Davis’ death. But Hodges is believed to have fled the immediate area, and SPD detectives are working with the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force to locate him, said Statesboro Police Chief Mike Broadhead.

He issued a media release stating that Hodges “is considered armed and dangerous, and citizens are asked not to approach the suspect.” Instead, anyone who knows where Hodges can be found is asked to contact law enforcement.

SPD officers responded to a call about a shooting victim at the house on Dunlap Street about 7 p.m. Monday. Inside, they found Davis, 41, deceased from gunshot wounds.

“We found evidence of drug sales inside the residence, and we believe that the motive for the shooting was a robbery,” Broadhead said.

Multiple shots were fired from a small-caliber handgun, he said.

Police also think another person may have been involved and they were trying to identify a second suspect, Broadhead said Tuesday afternoon, but they believe Hodges was the shooter. Anyone with additional information on this homicide should contact the lead detective on the case, Detective James Winskey, at (912) 764-9911 or leave an anonymous tip at tips@statesboroga.gov.

Murder toll

As reported after the previous most recent killing in Statesboro, the shooting death of Malcolm Jerome Steele, 37, at Morris Heights Apartments on Morris Street the night of Oct. 31, the number of homicides in 2020 was already the most, by several, for any calendar year in more than a decade.

Now, with Davis having become the eighth victim, Statesboro’s homicide toll this year has doubled that of the deadliest year of the past decade, 2014, when there were four homicides in the city limits.

Guns have been used in all eight of this year’s killings.

Arrests were made and defendants are awaiting trial in all of the earlier six homicides. As of Tuesday, no arrest had been made in connection with Steele’s death, which Broadhead has characterized as an “assassination” being investigated as a suspected gang-related crime involving two gunmen.

Anyone with information on that case can also talk to a detective at (912) 764-9911 or leave an anonymous tip at tips@statesboroga.gov.