DOUGHERTY/LEE COUNTY, Ga. (WALB) – Officials are investigating what they believe to be a domestic-related murder-suicide.

“My grandson… he heard some shots outside… I walked out and saw a lady had been shot and called 9-1-1," a witness told WALB.

According to the Albany Police Department (APD), at around 3 a.m. on Sept. 19, officers responded to the 1400 block of Lee Street in Albany after reports of a shooting. When they arrived, they found 50-year-old Leigh Bowen Dyson dead inside a vehicle from an apparent gunshot wound.

“What was she doing back here? Because I ain’t never seen her before,” the witness said.

Investigators said that Dyson was discovered in this car on Lee Street in Dougherty County. Tire marks at the scene show where a tow truck removed the vehicle before deputies continued the investigation into neighboring Lee County.

Police say that Phares Taylor Jr., 29, was also shot during the dispute. The suspect, identified as Allen Dyson, 59, fled the scene following the shooting. Officers obtained arrest and search warrants, and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team assisted the Albany Police Department in serving them at a home on Hearthstone Drive in Lee County.

However, Dyson was later found dead at his home from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Multiple firearms were recovered at the scene.

A witness told WALB that they’re concerned about locals taking matters into their own hands.

The scene unfolded just steps from Monroe Comprehensive High School, disrupting Lee County’s bus routes. Neighbors say they’re thankful it didn’t happen during school hours.

“A lot of kids travel this alley back and forth to school.”

Police say the case is being investigated as a domestic-related homicide and aggravated assault, now considered cleared by the offender’s death.

“I guess he was sorry for what he did. That’s the only way he could’ve gotten over it,” a witness said.

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