Four suspects identified in death of deputy’s husband in Hephzibah

From left, Carlos Figueroa, Brentin Coleman, T’zaiah La’Tonia Dukes and Ortegas Dwayne Jones.

Date: March 24, 2022

Three teens were arrested Thursday and one other was being sought in last week’s shooting death of Hephzibah father Alan Newsome at the Rosetown Trailer Park.

The wanted suspect is Newsome’s brother-in-law, 29-year-old Carlos Figueroa. Brentin Coleman, 19, was also wanted, but he was captured Thursday afternoon, while 17-year-old suspects T’zaiah La’Tonia Dukes and Ortegas Dwayne Jones are already in custody on murder charges, a press release says.

The 25-year-old Hephzibah father was found dead early Friday in a driveway on the 2900 block of Ulm Road, about six miles from where he lives on Woodlake Drive. Newsome was pronounced dead at 1:51 a.m. March 18.

An arrest warrant says the suspects struck Newsome in the head twice with an unknown blunt object and shot him in the head with a gun.

Alan Newsome is pictured here with his wife, Nadia Bell Newsome.

According to 911 calls, the victim’s wife, Richmond County Sheriff’s Deputy Nadia Bell Newsome, was called by Figueroa to come over to Ulm Road because of the altercation. When she arrived, she found Newsome dead in the street.

The captured teens are both from Hephzibah, and they are being held without bond.

A motive is unclear. Friends and family mourned the loss of “Hotshot” on Facebook, remembering him as a father, husband and Army veteran who was currently working as a nurse at Fort Gordon.

Newsome’s Facebook page includes a June 2020 video of him in the Army being promoted to specialist while his two young daughters hugged him. He married Nadia last September.

Greg Rickabaugh is the Jail Report contributor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at greg.rickabaugh@theaugustapress.com 

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The Author

Greg Rickabaugh is an award-winning crime reporter in the Augusta-Aiken area with experience writing for The Augusta Chronicle and serving as publisher of The Jail Report. He also owns AugustaCrime.com. Rickabaugh is a 1994 graduate of the University of South Carolina and has appeared on several crime documentaries on the Investigation Discovery channel. He is married with two daughters.

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