Antoine Stokes is dead. Layla Bennett is behind bars. Jalen Thomas is on the run.
The violent encounter that brought them together at a Hephzibah Waffle House this week is just the tip of a deeply complicated history. It’s one that spans gang affiliations, a past murder case, domestic violence, and years of criminal charges.
It began Wednesday night around 11 p.m., when Bennett and her boyfriend Jalen Thomas finished their shift at Logan’s Roadhouse across town. The two then drove 10 miles to the Waffle House on Talbot Drive.
But when Bennett backed into a parking space, she saw someone she never expected to see: Antoine Stokes, sitting in a black SUV.
Two months earlier, Bennett had reported a domestic violence incident involving Stokes. And that wasn’t the only trouble in his past. At just 16, Stokes had been charged in the 2019 murder of 19-year-old Kenneth Porter during a failed robbery attempt in Augusta. Though he didn’t fire the weapon or directly confront the victim, he was recruited for the crime, handed a gun, and involved in the setup. After the shooting, he told his mother what happened and turned himself in. He later took a plea deal, admitting to attempted armed robbery and possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to five years and was placed on probation under the First Offender Act.
Seeing Stokes again sent Bennett into a panic. She told investigators she believed he had followed her from work. She left the parking lot in an attempt to get away, but when he continued to follow, she returned to the Waffle House, hoping he’d leave.
He didn’t.
Instead, Stokes pulled up next to their vehicle. Bennett said Thomas leaned out of the car and opened fire.
The black 2017 Ford Escape that Stokes had been driving was later found down the road, having rolled into the Taco Bell parking lot on Tobacco Road. Deputies discovered the SUV had been shot multiple times. Stokes was inside, suffering from at least one gunshot wound to the head. He was taken to Wellstar MCG Health and placed on life support. He died Thursday afternoon from his injuries.
Surveillance footage confirmed much of what happened. It showed a red Nissan Sentra, driven by Bennett with Thomas in the passenger seat, enter the Waffle House parking lot. Moments later, Stokes’ SUV pulled in behind them. The Nissan reversed, and the passenger, wearing a pink shirt, was seen firing over the roof of the car into the SUV. The Nissan then sped away, heading west on Tobacco Road.
Investigators tracked down Bennett and quickly uncovered a June 2025 police report listing both her and Stokes in a domestic violence call. Digging further into Jalen Thomas’ background revealed more disturbing details.
Thomas is a convicted felon, with a 2016 false imprisonment charge in Richmond County. He and a roommate were both validated members of the Gangster Disciples criminal street gang. In 2019, the two appeared in a social media video showing a younger friend rapping while brandishing a firearm, while they were under felony probation with active Fourth Amendment waivers.
When officers searched their residence, they found a semi-automatic pistol, a Walmart bag containing another firearm box, two boxes of ammunition, and a spare magazine. Thomas and Javon Darden (18 at the time) were both charged with firearm possession as first offender probationers and participation in criminal gang activity. Thomas was sentenced to five years in prison on the gang charge and got out in April 2024.
Now, Thomas is wanted once again, this time for murder and weapons possession. He is considered armed and dangerous and is known to frequent the Tobacco Road and Robert C. Daniel Jr. Parkway area.
Layla Bennett, who originally claimed she was trying to avoid Stokes, has also been charged with murder and weapons possession in connection to his death.
Anyone with information about Jalen Thomas’ location is urged to contact Investigator Courtland Harris at (706) 821-1455 or reach the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office at (706) 821-1020 or (706) 821-1080.
