A man will remain behind bars after a plea was entered in the July Term of Court.

Alapaha Judicial Circuit District Attorney Chase L. Studstill announced that 45-year-old James Avery, of Moultrie, was sentenced July 28, on felony charges of two counts of aggravated battery, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Avery entered a plea during the July Term of Court and was sentenced to 55 years, with the first 10 years of the sentence to be served in confinement in the Georgia Department of Corrections.

The charges in this case were brought after Avery and his co-defendant Jerry Lynn Tatum, conspired to murder the victim in this case.

Studstill says that on February 11, 2021, Tatum drove Avery to the victim’s home on Aspen Lane in Cook County where Avery shot the victim in the head. The victim suffered a broken jaw and loss of sight in one of his eyes as a result of the shooting, but survived. Agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and deputies and investigators with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office investigated this case.

Tatum received a 20 year sentence with the first 2.5 years to be served in the Department of Corrections for his role in the shooting.

District Attorney Chase L. Studstill stated, “This was a difficult and complicated case. I want to thank agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the deputies from the Cook County Sheriff’s Office for their hard work on this case. There were several moving parts in this case not all of which can be disclosed to the general public. I would like to thank Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Rue Smith for preparing this case for trial and obtaining a guilty plea from both Defendants.”