The City of Waycross gathered at noon Saturday at C.C. McCray City Auditorium to honor the life and legacy of Jacob Garrett Cothern, a member of the Public Works Department.
Cothern, 35, died March 13, 2026, the victim of a shooting in a parking lot off the intersection of Snelson Street and Haines Avenue, the Waycross Police said. Brandon Dale Frick, 29, was arrested shortly after the incident, witnessed by Cothern’s wife, Buffy, and charged in the murder. Buffy Cothern told Jacksonville, Fla., TV station First Coast News, her husband’s death ended a life with a rocky past, but a promising future thanks in part to his employment as a Storm & Sanitation Maintenance Operator with the city.
“Jake was a great worker and our team definitely misses him,” Public Works Director Matt Elwell said last week. “Jake had been with the city for almost a year and a half. He was a great worker, determined to improve himself and it paid off as he had received a couple of promotions in his short
