Seven of eight people killed last week in a southeast Georgia mobile home were laid to rest Saturday.
The funerals at Youngs Island Church in Eulonia, Georgia, were held for Chrissy Toler, 22; Russell D. Toler Sr., 44; Michelle Toler, 15; Michael Toler, 19; Russell D. Toler Jr., 20; Guy Heinze Sr., 45; and Brenda Gail Falagan, 49. The funeral for the eighth victim, Joseph L. West, 30, is to be held at mid-month. Police have arrested Guy Heinze Jr., the son of Guy Heinze Sr., on eight counts of first-degree murder. Seven caskets for the seven victims stood side by side for the burial under sunny skies at a nearby cemetery. More than 200 mourners attended the funeral, including William Heinze, father of one of the victims and grandfather of the man accused of the killings. “I’ve never seen so much love and support at a funeral,” William Heinze told CNN affiliate WJXT. William Heinze also said he doubted that his grandson, Guy Heinze Jr., was responsible for the killings. “We want to know what really happened,” he said. “The police may think they know what happened, but we want to really know the truth.” Investigators obtained an arrest warrant Friday evening for Guy Heinze Jr., 22, just hours after he had been freed from jail on charges of tampering with evidence and making false statements to a police officer, Police Chief Matt Doering of Glynn County, Georgia said Friday.
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“I can assure you that this person is responsible,” Doering said at a news conference Friday evening. The bodies were discovered a week ago at New Hope Plantation mobile home park, north of the Atlantic coastal city of Brunswick. Seven died in the mobile home, and the eighth died a day later at a hospital. The chief refused to reveal how the victims were killed or the suspected motive. A 3-year-old who was injured was on life support at a Savannah hospital, her grandmother said. A man identified as Guy Heinze Jr. reported the slayings. He told an emergency dispatcher when he called last Saturday, “I was out last night. I got home just now, and everybody’s dead. … My whole family’s dead. It looks like they’ve been beaten to death.” Watch report on funerals and arrest from CNN’s Sean Callebs According to the first arrest warrant, Heinz provided “investigators with false and misleading information about his whereabouts and involvement in the circumstances leading up to him calling 911 to report the deaths of his family members.” The arrest warrant also said he removed a shotgun from the residence and hid it in the trunk of his car. The killings have made people in the southeastern Georgia city of more than 16,000 uneasy, a waitress at a restaurant said.
“There’s still a lot of concern that that many deaths at one time can not have been done by one person,” Lucinda Bennett, a waitress at the 4th of May Cafe, said. “There is still a little bit of nervousness in the area over whether they have got everyone that was involved with it.” Linda Davis, who works at a barbershop in the city, said everyone is puzzled over the slayings. “You don’t go in and kill eight people and nobody hears screams or shots or anything like that with trailers that close together,” she said.
