A recent Pierce County High School graduate was murdered in Douglas last Thursday morning, August 7.
Ja’Meria Studivent, 18, of Blackshear, died at the Coffee Regional Medical Center in Douglas after the 9:10 a.m. shooting.
Studivent was a 2025 graduate of Pierce County High School.
Arrangements are pending and will be with Harrington Funeral Services of Waycross.
Prince “PJ” Thomas, 18, of Douglas, has been charged with felony murder, three counts of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime in connection with the case.
According to a press release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Douglas office, Studivent was a passenger in a car traveling in the 400 block of Miller Road just to the southeast of the City of Douglas.
Studivent was in a car with two other people when she was shot. The driver rushed Studivent to Coffee Regional, but she died after arrival there.
The GBI Medical Examiner’s Office in Macon will complete an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death.
Thomas turned himself in after learning GBI agents and Coffee County Sheriff’s Office deputies were actively searching for him in connection to Studivent’s death.
During the preliminary investigation, it was determined Thomas believed the car Studivent was riding in was suspicious, so he shot at it from his yard. Thomas and a person in the vehicle knew each other, but there’s no indication that anything happened to provoke the shooting.
This investigation is still active and ongoing.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Douglas at (912) 3894103, or the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office at (912) 384-4227. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.
Once the investigation is complete, the case file will be given to the Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
