PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. — On December 17, 2022, Joshua Mitchell was shot to death in his own driveway in the Abbington subdivision in Paulding County, according to investigators.
Joshua Matthews, a detective with the Paulding County Sheriff's Office, said he remembers the 911 calls stating there were shots fired around 9:50 p.m.
"We show up to this, and it’s just what are we going to find and today it was one of the bad ones," Matthews recalled. "It’s one of those that kind of sticks with you, the brutality of it."
Matthews said when investigators showed up at the house, they found the 37-year-old veteran, husband, and father to three girls dead outside his home.
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"His little girl, at one point, looked out the window and saw her dad laying there. I think that's life-changing. She's not going to be able to forget something like that. And we're doing everything we can to get them answers," Matthews said.
11Alive's Molly Oak sat down with both Matthews and special agent Daniel Nicholson with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, two of the lead detectives on the case, on Wednesday, just days before the one-year anniversary of Mitchell's death.
"It's unimaginable," said Nicholson, noting in his years of investigating murders, this is one of the toughest. "As a father myself, I couldn't imagine what it would be like any time of year, but particularly this time of year, it would be tough. It is tough. And it's heartbreaking."
Nicholson described Mitchell as "an all-around good guy."
"Josh Mitchell was a family man, a father, a husband who lived in a residential neighborhood," Nicholson said, adding the veteran-owned a construction company.
"Everybody I talked to said he was one of the hardest working people they knew," Matthews added. "He was gone before the sun came up, and he didn’t get home until the sun came down. His kids loved him, his wife loved him."
Now, both Nicholson and Matthews are asking the public for help, saying no detail is too small.
"A lot of individuals inside the subdivision were having Christmas parties," said Nicholson of the night Mitchell was murdered, adding he hopes people can think back and note if they remember anything that seems odd or out of place.
Matthews said this type of crime isn't common for Paulding County, noting, in his 10 years, he's never seen anything "as bad as that."
"In situations like this, obviously you need time and you need information, and we've had a lot of time, but we haven't had a lot of information," said Matthews, explaining just even the tiniest bit of information could lead to a break in the case.
Both said they hope they can bring the Mitchell family closure for Christmas.
They said if anyone has details to share with the GBI, they can call or submit a tip online. The GBI's tip line is 1-800-597-8477.
To send information to the Paulding County Sheriff's Office, people can use its app or call 770-443-3010.