Cartersville Man Shot, Killed in Paulding County

DALLAS, GA -- The Paulding County Sheriff's Office is investigating what led up to the shooting death of a Cartersville man Wednesday evening.

Deputies with the agency were dispatched around 7:12 p.m. Feb. 8 to a 911 call of a "heated domestic dispute where shots were possibly fired" on Mt. Tabor Church Road in unincorporated Dallas, according to its Facebook page.

Deputies arrived on the scene to find a passenger vehicle that had crashed through a fence and came to a stop against a tree across the street from a home in the 3800 block of Mt. Tabor Church Road.

Deputies searched the car and found the male victim, identified as Justin McKenzie, 28, of Cartersville, dead in the driver's seat of the car, the agency said.

Detectives with the Criminal Investigation Division later arrived and begin to interview witnesses.

Investigators learned that the alleged shooter, 18-year-old Jordan Holt of Dallas, shot McKenzie while he was inside the vehicle, the sheriff's office said.

Holt also told detectives there was a "history of domestic violence" between him and the victim that stretches over the course of a year. According to the sheriff's office, McKenzie was the ex-boyfriend of Holt’s mother.

As of now, Holt has been arrested and charged with reckless conduct. More charges could be possible pending the outcome of the investigation, the sheriff's office adds.

Holt is being held at the Paulding County Jail without bond. Detectives are asking anyone who may have seen or heard this incident to call them at (770) 443-3015.

Photo: Jordan Holt. Credit: Paulding County Sheriff's Office