2 witnesses name George Humphreys as shooter in McIntosh County murder trial

DARIEN, Ga. (WTOC) - Two witnesses identified George Humphreys as the man who shot Tony Ferguson at a party in December 2024 during the second day of a McIntosh County murder trial in Superior Court. The defense also requested a mistrial twice, which the judge rejected.

Friend describes shooting

A friend who knew both Humphreys and Ferguson testified he witnessed the shooting after a brief argument. He said a white car drove off and two more shots rang out, and that he saw Humphreys get in that car.

Asked on the stand whether watching the shooting was traumatic, the friend said, “Yes.”

Asked whether he had issues after that, he said, “I still have issues.”

Brother testifies about Ferguson’s words

Ferguson’s brother testified that Ferguson named his shooter while he was dying.

The brother said Ferguson told him “Big Head” shot him and that the bullet wound was burning. “Big Head” is Humphreys’ known nickname.

“I asked him what happened, who did this s---?” the brother said. “And he said, ‘Big Head shot me, brother. This s--- burns. It’s hot. It burns. Lord help me.’”

Defense seeks mistrial

Later testimony led the defense to request a mistrial after a witness said he met Humphreys previously in prison. The defense argued the comment hurt Humphreys by telling jurors about his criminal history.

The judge rejected the motion and also pointed out that one charge in the trial is possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Other evidence presented

Jurors also heard 911 calls, watched body camera video and heard from first responding officers and a firearms expert. The expert identified a 9 mm pistol as the murder weapon.

Later in the day, the lead investigator on the case took the stand. She spoke about trying to interview or speak with the suspect, George Humphreys, but that he was afraid it was a ‘set up’ meeting with her, and asked to instead speak to an attorney.

His attorney asked the judge for the mistrial the 2nd time for that comment. Arguing that the detective saying he asked for an attorney shouldn’t be admissible to the jury, or allowed to be considered during deliberations.

There were also Facebook messages of the defendant shown in court, where he recommended to his girlfriend that they should move to Florida, and that he doesn’t know why people are saying he is involved in this, the day after the shooting. Multiple Facebook audio call receipts were also shown from the day after the shooting happened.

Day 3 of the trial starts Wednesday at 9 a.m. Cross-examination of the lead detective will take place, and potentially the defense’s witnesses will be called to the stand.