Macon Man Sentenced to 20 Years After Firing 11 Shots at Car, Killing Tavias Williams Outside Academy Sports

MACON, Ga. — A Macon man convicted of firing 11 shots at a vehicle carrying teenagers and a young adult outside an Academy Sports store on Eisenhower Parkway has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in connection with the 2022 shooting that killed Tavias Williams.

Tajiri Harris was sentenced Tuesday, October 20, 2026, in Bibb County Superior Court after a jury convicted him of five counts of aggravated assault.

Harris received 20 years to serve in the Georgia Department of Corrections. Prosecutors had requested the maximum sentence of 100 years, consisting of 20 years for each aggravated assault count.

The shooting occurred April 26, 2022, following a dispute involving a stolen cellphone and $100 transferred through Cash App.

Dispute Over Stolen Phone Leads to Confrontation at Academy Sports

According to prosecutors, a group that included teenagers between the ages of 13 and 15 and a 21-year-old traveled to the Academy Sports store on Eisenhower Parkway to meet Harris’ sister.

The confrontation stemmed from an incident in which Harris’ sister took the 21-year-old’s cellphone and used it to transfer $100 to herself through Cash App.

Harris instructed his sister to arrange a meeting with the group at Academy Sports. He arrived at the store before the victims.

When the group arrived, Harris’ sister and her boyfriend rushed toward their vehicle, spitting on and punching the driver.

As the victims attempted to drive away, Harris opened fire on their vehicle.

Crime scene investigators recovered 11 shell casings from the parking lot and documented eight bullet markings on the vehicle.

Shooting Victim Found at Southwest High School

After the shooting, the victims drove to Southwest High School on Williamson Road.

A Bibb County Sheriff’s Office deputy responding to a report of a person shot found Tavias Williams wounded in the back seat of the vehicle.

The deputy performed CPR until emergency medical personnel arrived.

Williams died from his injuries.

Investigators later determined that three bullets that struck Williams had been fired from a gun recovered at Harris’ residence.

Phone Evidence and Witness Statements Place Harris at Shooting

During the investigation, Harris gave Bibb County Sheriff’s Office investigators a false account of his whereabouts on the night of the shooting, according to prosecutors.

Witnesses, including Harris’ sister, told investigators he had been at Academy Sports.

A forensic examination of Harris’ cellphone also placed him at the scene when the shooting occurred.

During his trial, Harris testified that he acted in self-defense when he fired at the fleeing vehicle.

Although investigators did not recover a weapon from the victims’ vehicle, witness testimony established that the teenagers had a gun in the car during the confrontation.

The jury convicted Harris of five counts of aggravated assault.

Prosecutors Requested 100-Year Sentence

At Harris’ October 20 sentencing hearing, prosecutors asked the court to impose the maximum punishment of 100 years, calculated as 20 years for each of the five aggravated assault convictions.

The court instead sentenced Harris to 20 years to serve in the Georgia Department of Corrections.

Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney Anita R. Howard said the violence could have been avoided if those involved had contacted law enforcement over the stolen phone.

“A dispute over a phone and $100 ended with a young man dead and another serving 20 years in prison,” Howard said. “This situation should have had a very different outcome. Rather than call police when the phone was stolen, young people with guns decided to take the law into their own hands.”

Howard also criticized witnesses who refused to cooperate with investigators and prosecutors.

“Unfortunately, during the investigation, several witnesses refused to cooperate, tell the truth and assist law enforcement and prosecutors in understanding exactly what happened that day,” Howard said. “When people don’t assist law enforcement in pursuing justice, they make it difficult for juries to determine what happened and who was at fault.”

The case was prosecuted by Chief of Staff Kyle Owenby and Senior Assistant District Attorney Willie Saunders.