GBI Investigating Double Shooting Death in Screven County

Screven County, GA (September 27, 2025) – At the request of the Screven County Sheriff’s Office, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is investigating the deaths of two men found with gunshot wounds early Saturday morning.

Around 3:15 a.m., law enforcement responded to a call about a car accident on Highway 301 South, just outside the Sylvania city limits. When officers arrived, they discovered 30-year-old Leon Tolbert Jr. and 30-year-old Brandon Counts, both of Sylvania, inside a vehicle. Each man had suffered a single gunshot wound.

Tolbert Jr. was pronounced dead at the scene. Counts was transported to a nearby hospital, where he later died.

The Georgia State Patrol determined the vehicle had not been in a crash but instead had veered off the roadway. Investigators recovered a handgun from inside the vehicle.

The bodies of both men will be sent to the GBI Crime Lab in Pooler for autopsies.

The investigation remains active. Anyone with information is urged to contact the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Statesboro at 912-871-1121, the Screven County Sheriff’s Office at 912-564-2013, or submit an anonymous tip at 1-800-597-TIPS (8477) or online at gbi.georgia.gov.