Investigation Continues Into Wednesday Lavonia Murder-Suicide

Authorities in Franklin County say an elderly Lavonia woman and her son are victims of a murder-suicide.

It happened Wednesday at a home on Misty Mills Road in Lavonia.

According to Northern Judicial District Attorney Parks White, deputies with the Franklin County Sheriff’s office, along with Lavonia Police, Hart County authorities, the GBI and the DA responded to a report of an unresponsive female at 222 Misty Mills Road.

Responding EMT’s determined the woman was dead.

“The preliminary investigation concluded that Elizabeth O’Barr, 84-years-old, who was discovered in her bedroom by relatives, was the victim of foul play, and died as the result of multiple stab wounds to the chest,” White said. “The prime suspect was her son, Thomas Everett O’Barr, 63, who resided on the same property,”

Law enforcement set up a perimeter and conducted a massive search for Thomas O’Barr.

White said O’Barr’s body was later discovered in some woods less than a quarter mile from the crime scene.

Investigators determined O’Barr had taken his own life.

“The Georgia Bureau of Investigation – Region 11 and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office are in the process of thoroughly documenting the crime scene to ensure that no other parties are involved,” White explained. “At this point, it appears that Thomas O’Barr acted alone, and there is no reason to believe that the public is at any further risk.”