Parking Lot Argument Turns Fatal

"LITHIA SPRINGS, GA — Douglas County Sheriff’s Office investigators are looking into an apparent murder/suicide just after 7 a.m. Sunday morning.

"Investigators say that 48-year-old John Malone had just arrived at work at J.B. Hunt Trucking on 648 Sydney Court in Lithia Springs Sunday morning. A woman that investigators say had been dating Malone for about 18 months confronted him there. A verbal altercation became heated and that’s when Lt. Jamie Harrell said the woman got a gun.

"`There were multiple witnesses to the shooting,` Harrell said. `Statements indicate that she apparently produced a handgun and shot Mr. Malone multiple times. She left the scene so we began to look for her vehicle. We found the car in a parking lot about a quarter of a mile away. She was found inside and had suffered what appeared to be a single, self-inflicted gunshot to the chest.`

"The woman was identified as 41-year-old Nicole Prater of Riverdale. Harrell said that Malone had an Austell address.

"Douglas County Coroner Randy Daniel said that Malone had been shot at least three times and was pronounced dead on the scene at 8:44 a.m. He said that Prater was pronounced dead at 9:45 a.m. where investigators had located her vehicle.

"Daniel said that both Malone and Prater were taken to the Georgia State Crime Lab for autopsies. Harrell said with the number of witnesses, it appears to be an open-and-shut case.

"`It appears to be open and shut, but we still have a few loose ends to tie up,` Harrell said. `It’s a tragic thing, but all indications are that it is the result of a relationship that had gone bad that resulted in a murder/suicide.`"

Source: Douglas County Sentinel...