18-year-old shooting victim dies Wednesday in Bainbridge, suspect in custody

Published 5:07 pm Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Bainbridge teen Octavius Powell, 18, died early Wednesday morning at Memorial Hospital and Manor in Bainbridge after being shot in the abdomen.

The suspect in his death, 19-year-old Robert Smith has been arrested and charged with felony murder.

Shortly before midnight Tuesday, shots rang out at the American Legion building next to Gibbs and Miles Homes — an apartment complex. Adrienne Harrison, a spokesperson for Bainbridge Public Safety said there was a party at the American Legion building the Gibbs and Miles Homes parking lot was being used for overflow parking. Harrison said the 19-year-old suspect is believed to have fired multiple shots in the air and one of those shots struck Powell, according to witnesses at the scene.

Email newsletter signup

“When Bainbridge Public Safety responded to the shots, they arrived and found Octavius Powell had been shot with one shot to the abdomen,” Harrison said. “He was then transported to Memorial Hospital where he died this morning.”

Harrison said BPS officers interviewed multiple witnesses from the party. Those accounts led officers to Smith, but the case is still under investigation; more suspects could be charged in the future.

“This all stemmed from an altercation yesterday afternoon from a party at the boat basin, where Smith and others were arguing with another group of guys and that just led into the altercation at the American Legion,” Harrison said. “Powell was not a member of either group, but was an innocent bystander at the party before he was shot.”

Harrison said if anyone saw or heard anything related to the death of Powell, they should call the Bainbridge Public Safety Department, or submit an anonymous tip online on the Bainbridge Public Safety website.