This story has been updated to add the victim’s preferred name.
SPALDING COUNTY, Ga. (NewsNation) — Kaylee Morgan is mourning the loss of her friend Johnathan Gilbert, known to his friends as Tyler Lane, after officials say he was shot and killed in a suspected “lovers’ quarrel.”
Authorities said Sydney Maughon, 18, Jeremy Munson, 18, and McKenzie Davenport, 19, were egging Gilbert’s home when he came out to confront them. At that point, they ran back to the car and allegedly shot Gilbert multiple times before driving away and leaving his body in the road. Lane was believed to have been unarmed.
“He (Gilbert) came outside to confront her (Maughon), and they all ran back to the car. From what I think happened, she shot him when he was running up to the car,” Morgan said during an exclusive interview Monday with NewsNation’s Alex Caprariello.
Morgan believes Lane was “begging for his life” in the moments before he died.
“He just collapsed, and he was alive for about 10 minutes, begging for someone. It’s very sad. Because he lost his dad that way. … From what I’ve heard, Jeremy got out of the car and snatched his necklace off of him. It was his dad’s ashes. … He was begging for his life, and nobody knows what was going through his mind at that time,” Morgan said.
Police said they believe Maughon was the one who fired the shots, but all three teens are being charged with murder.
Maughon and Munson are both facing additional charges, including possession of a firearm during a crime.
NewsNation’s Urja Sinha contributed to this report.