No motive mentioned in official court documents
Avery Courson has been indicted by the Pierce County Grand Jury for the October, 2025, murders of a father and son in the St. Johns Community off Georgia Highway 121 South.
Courson, 31, has been charged with felony murder, malice murder, three counts of aggravated assault and one count of possession of a weapon during the commission of a crime.
The Grand Jury seated during the January term returned true bills on each count in the indictment. The indictment was unsealed and read in open court before Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Kight shortly after the true bills were returned. Courson is being represented by the Waycross Judicial Circuit’s Public Defender office.
Court documents did not reveal a motive for the killings, but did provide additional details as to what happened that morning.
Pierce County 911 received a call at 10:02 a.m. Saturday morning, October 25, 2025.
Courson
Virgil Lester Chaney, 64, and Christopher Levi Chaney, 37, died of wounds they allegedly received at the hands of Courson. According to the warrants and indictments, Courson is alleged to have shot both men in the head using a 12-gauge shotgun. He also pointed the weapon at a female who was at the home, but did not fire at her.
As a result of the investigation, sheriff’s deputies arrested Courson at 11:19 a.m. at the Circle K on Gordon Street and U.S. Highway 84 near the courthouse.
The felony and malice murder charges are a legal designation required for the court system. The aggravated assault charges are for Courson’s actions against all three victims.
Both Chaney men were described as good neighbors who “would give you the shirt off their backs” to help those in need.
Virgil Chaney was a life-long resident of Pierce County and a 1979 graduate of Blackshear High School.
He was a former boilermaker with Local 26 and was retired as a longtime owner/operator of Chaney’s Sewing Center on Plant Avenue in Waycross.
Christopher Chaney was also a life-long resident of Pierce County and a 2006 graduate of Pierce County High School. He had worked as an electrician with Arrowhead Electric and Systems, LLC.
Courson is in the Pierce County Jail awaiting trial.
