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- A Towaliga Judicial Circuit grand jury first declined to indict after a self-defense claim; a second grand jury returned a felony murder indictment.
- Judge Bill Fears disqualified the Towaliga Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office, citing forensic misconduct.
- Henry County DA Darius Pattillo said review found insufficient evidence to prove White was the primary aggressor or disprove his self-defense claim beyond reasonable doubt.
JACKSON, Ga. — The murder case against a Covington man who shot and killed his wife’s stepfather at the couple’s wedding in 2024 will not be prosecuted, according to the Henry County District Attorney’s Office.
According to Flint Judicial Circuit District Attorney Darius Pattillo, the case against Aaron White, 33, has been dropped.
White was arrested in late January and charged with felony murder and aggravated assault in the death of Butts County resident Jason Maughon, 44. Maughon was shot and killed during a fight that broke out following the July 2024 wedding of White and Maughon’s stepdaughter.
A Towaliga Judicial Circuit grand jury declined to indict White in April 2024 after White claimed that he acted in self-defense. Towaliga District Attorney Jonathan Adams then took the case before a second grand jury and got an indictment for felony murder.
In March, Judge Bill Fears disqualified the Towaliga Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office from the case citing forensic misconduct.
In a disposition order dated May 27, Henry County DA Pattillo states that “after a thorough review of the evidence, witness statements, investigative materials and applicable law, the state has determined that it cannot meet the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt at trial due to insufficient evidence.”
The order further states that the state cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that White was the primary aggressor in the altercation that resulted in Maughon’s death. The order states that the state also cannot disprove beyond a reasonable doubt White’s claim of self-defense.
The order was signed by Pattillo and Towaliga Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Tommy Wilson.
Butts County Sheriff Gary Long says the case exposed serious shortcomings in how self-defense cases are handled.
“I will continue working with members of the State Senate and State House to pursue meaningful reforms to our self-defense laws. In self-defense cases, the burden of proof must remain on the state — not on law-abiding citizens forced to defend themselves,” Long said. “If a citizen is forced to lawfully defend themselves or others, as in the White case, I will stand with them so long as they are legally justified in their actions. No political pressure, social media smear campaign, character assassination or election will change my commitment to the oath I took.”
Long added that “as sheriff, my oath is not to politics or public opinion, but to the Constitution, the law and the citizens I serve. My duty is both to arrest the guilty and protect the innocent, and I will never support prosecutions driven by politics instead of facts and justice.”
White’s attorney’s, John Strauss and Bret Dunn of Strauss & Dunn in Covington, commended Patillo’s decision to drop the charges.
“Aaron never should have been indicted a second time,” the law firm wrote, in part. “We are grateful to DA Pattillo for conducting a fair review, and to Sheriff Long for having the integrity to speak the truth from day one. Most of all, we are proud to have stood in the gap for Aaron and Kailagh and restored what had been wrongfully taken from them.”
J.D. Maughon, the victim’s father, says justice was not served for his son who was shot “seven times, once in the back and as he lay on the ground.”
Managing Editor Evan Newton contributed to this report.
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