A 30-year-old man, who was shot Thursday, died in a Savannah hospital Saturday and the young woman accused of shooting him in the head, is expected to be charged with murder, according to Liberty County Sheriff Steve Sikes.
Marquana Adale Jasper was denied bond Saturday when she faced aggravated assault charges for allegedly shooting James Stewart, 30. Sikes said Jasper was arrested after she was questioned near where Stewart was found in a ditch west of Hinesville.
Saturday, in a courtroom at the Liberty County jail, Deputy Magistrate Jimmie Bowmar ruled that Jasper should not get out of jail.
A Liberty County Sheriff’s Office report says Jasper asked a convenience store clerk to call 911, bringing authorities to Stewart.
The report, filed by LCSO Capt. Orrin Nestor, says Capt. Keith Jenkins was first dispatched after a report of a man laying in a ditch near Elim Church Road on Highway 196. Jenkins found Stewart being treated by emergency medical personnel for a gunshot wound.
When Nestor arrived, Jenkins told him Jasper was on the scene, in a silver Tahoe. Nestor spoke with Jasper. She told him she knew Stewart and had been with him that day.
She told Nestor she had picked him up at his mother’s house at about 2 p.m. She said Stewart had not been acting right and kept telling her he was going to die, according to the report.
Between 5 and 6 p.m., Jasper went with Stewart to a park in west Hinesville and he seemed to be feeling better. Jasper told Nestor she eventually left him in the park and drove home.
About 30 minutes later, she left home to go to a store and saw Stewart by a church on Elim Church Road, looking crazy. According to the report, she stopped and asked him where he was going, but continued to a store at Highway 196 and Airport Road and then returned home.
Later, she told Nestor, she started to worry about Stewart and went to look for him. Passing the Elim Church Road area again, she saw a man lying in the ditch, drove to the Handy Land convenience store and asked the clerk to call 911. She said she went back and found Stewart lying on his back in the ditch. His left arm was twitching back and forth, she told Nestor.
Stewart was flown to Memorial Health University Medical Center by a helicopter ambulance.
The sheriff said Stewart was shot once in the head.