Man shot his 68-year-old best friend of 30 years over $30 and left his body in a cemetery: DA

Background: News footage of the cemetery where Coybern Jones Jr. was found dead on Oct. 30, 2023 (WSB). Inset (left): News footage of Joe Link in court on Feb. 25 (WSB). Inset (right): Coybern Jones Jr. (Dortch-Williamson Funeral & Cremation Services).

A Georgia man is on trial for the murder of his best friend of three decades, but his defense attorney said the fatal shooting was an accident.

Joe Link, 78, was in a Clayton County courtroom on Wednesday when a jury heard the details of the October 2023 shooting death of 68-year-old Coybern Jones Jr. Link is charged with malice murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault in connection with the shooting. According to courtroom reporting by local ABC affiliate WSB, Link and Jones were best friends for 30 years.

That friendship ended when the two men had an argument in a gas station in Jonesboro, Georgia, that spilled out onto a road near a cemetery, and one man pulled the trigger of a vintage gun.

Jonesboro police said Jones' body was found lying in the road near a cemetery on the evening of Oct. 30, 2023. He was dead from a gunshot wound to the neck. Link was arrested and charged with murder a few days later.

During the trial, prosecutors said the murder weapon was a .22 revolver known as a Saturday night special. A detective who was at the scene when Jones was found testified that the gun was located 36 feet from the body, adding, "It was in front of a grave marker."

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Assistant District Attorney Brianna Jordan said the two men had an argument inside an Exxon gas station about money. Link had loaned Jones $30 and let Jones borrow his gun, and they were meeting so Jones could pay him back and return the gun. Link's defense attorney Erin King told the court that there was a "tussle" over the gun, which went off and fired the fatal shot that hit Jones. King said Link was in shock when he left his friend bleeding on the ground and walked away from the scene.

Jordan said evidence will show the shooting was "not an accident."

One witness called to the stand was a firearms examiner from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. While being questioned by King, he testified that the gun in question was manufactured before 1968. King asked if such a gun "can go off without any force being applied to the trigger." The firearms examiner answered, "That's correct."

Link pleaded not guilty to all charges. His trial is ongoing.