Bowman man arrested in Hartwell motel murder

Matthew Laverne Carey (Hart County Detention Center)

A man who witnesses said they saw leave a Hartwell hotel room covered in blood is now in jail charged with murder.

Matthew Carey of Bowman turned himself in to authorities after the murder of 36-year-old Candy Downer, according to Hartwell police. Downer was found dead inside a room at the Daynight Inn in Hartwell.

A woman was found dead inside a room at this motel on Anderson Highway in Hartwell on Sunday, April 28, 2024. (Source: Google Maps)

The GBI charged the 41-year-old Carey with malice murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault – family violence, according to a GBI news release. Carey is currently being held in the Hart County Jail.

Investigators ask anyone with information about this crime to contact the Hartwell Police Department at (706) 376-3111 or the GBI Regional Investigative Office in Athens at (706) 552-2309.

Anonymous tips may be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online through the GBI Tip Line, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.

Once the investigation is complete, the GBI says it will turn over the case file to the Northern Judicial Circuit for prosecution.

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