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'Career criminal' behind bars in Butts County
Meth dealer known to traffic drugs across Newton County, others
Butts County arrests 'career criminal'
Andy Kirk Davis, center, is arrested Tuesday, July 28, in Butts County. Sheriff Gary Long described Davis as a "career criminal" known to deal meth across Georgia, including Newton County.
Taylor Beck
Published: Jul 28, 2020, 7:41 PM

A “career criminal” known to deal methamphetamine across Georgia, including Newton County, was arrested Tuesday in Butts County.

With the aid of the FBI and Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, Butts County Sheriff Gary Long said investigators were able to close a two-month investigation this week, which led to the arrest of Andy Kirk Davis.

Davis, approximately age 38, is a member of the “Ghost Face Gangsters” gang, according to Long. During the investigation, Long said his agents purchased more than 500 grams of meth from Davis in Butts, Newton and Putnam counties. He was known to deal drugs in Jasper County, too.

Davis was arrested and booked at the Butts County Jail on Tuesday and charged with selling meth, trafficking meth and use of a telecommunication device to commit a felony. He also faces additional charges of trafficking and selling meth in Newton and Putnam counties.

“Andy Davis is a career criminal and will be facing a life sentence based [off] of this investigation,” Long stated. “I can’t say he won’t distribute illegal narcotics inside the prison system, but I am confident he won’t do it in his natural life in the communities of Middle Georgia.”

Since 2010, Davis has been convicted of multiple crimes, including three related to possession and trafficking marijuana, according to information from the Georgia Department of Corrections.

Davis was on parole after being released from prison April 27, 2020.
Suspect in Friday shooting spree succumbs to injuries
NCSO says 24-year-old Dwayne Eduh succumbed to his injuries this evening
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The Salem Road Walmart was closed to the public on Friday following the early morning shooting spree. - photo by Evan Newton
Evan Newton
Updated: Apr 14, 2025, 2:48 AM
Published: Apr 14, 2025, 1:53 AM

NEWTON COUNTY – The suspected shooter in an early Friday morning shooting spree that killed two and injured a third has died.

The Newton County Sheriff’s Office (NCSO) confirmed to The Covington News that 24-year-old Dwayne Eduh of Covington passed away from his injuries from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. 

The NCSO said that Eduh, an employee at the Walmart on Salem Road, entered the store with a firearm just after 1:30 a.m. and fatally shot 21-year-old Khalaf Barksdale of Conyers. He then reportedly shot 29-year-old Ryan Bradley of Covington a short time later.

Bradley was rushed to a local hospital where he remains in stable condition.

After the first shooting, deputies say that Eduh traveled to a residence on Emerson Trail about two miles from the store. At the residence, he forced entry and  allegedly shot and killed 19-year-old Akeela Clarke of Covington in front of her relatives.

Eduh then fled down I-20 into South Carolina where he entered into a “brief standoff” with deputies with the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO). Eduh then shot himself, leading to his hospitalization in Augusta and eventual death. It is not clear where the gunshot wound was located.

While the death toll of this shooting spree has risen to three, several questions remain about the incident.

It was not made immediately clear the relationship between all four involved other than all being employees at the Walmart and being labeled by the NCSO as “acquaintances.”

“We don't know [the] motive at this time,” NCSO Sgt. Jack Redlinger said Friday during a press conference. “All I know is that they were acquaintances and they all worked here at Walmart.”

The NCSO is continuing to label the incident as an active investigation.