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GBI: Macon robbery suspect dies after being shot by officers in Crawford County

Kevin Soles Jr. was wanted in connection with a robbery that happened at a Macon motel earlier this month

CRAWFORD COUNTY, Ga. — A man wanted for an armed robbery in Macon earlier this month is dead after being shot by deputies in Crawford County.

  • Crawford County Sheriff Lewis Walker confirmed the shooting happened Wednesday night.
  • The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office says the shooting victim is 37-year-old Kevin Mark Soles Jr., of Macon.
  • Bibb Coroner Leon Jones confirmed to 13WMAZ that Soles Jr. died from his gunshot wound at the Medical Center, Atrium Health Navicent in Macon around 6:30 p.m.

According to a GBI news release, deputies went to a home on Jordan Road in Byron to arrest Soles when he ran into the woods behind the house.

The release says officers found him in the woods and saw he had a gun, leading to "several hours attempting to negotiate with Soles to surrender."

The GBI says officers tried firing less lethal rounds at him and at some point Soles pointed a gun at officers, leading to them shooting him.

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On Nov. 6, the Bibb Sheriff’s Office asked for help in finding Soles and a 20-year-old Dublin woman, Hayle Kennedy, accused of robbing someone at the Discovery Inn on Chambers Road the night of Nov. 2.

The victim told deputies he was supposed to meet Kennedy at the motel. He said once he got inside the room that Kennedy, Soles, and an unidentified masked man stole his wallet and car at gunpoint.

The car was recovered in Crawford County and returned to the victim.

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Dozens of people commented in a Crawford County Facebook group regarding Wednesday afternoon's search near Lower Hartley Bridge Road and Gunter's Mill Road.

One described officers with body armor pulling into their driveway and saying they were looking for a man with tattoos on his face who was hiding in the woods.

Some of those people complained that, as children arrived on school buses, folks in the neighborhood weren't warned about a potentially dangerous fugitive on the loose.

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