According to Sheriff Paxton, the dead men are identified as Iowa Hill Buddy Preston, age 75 and John Michael Lito, age 50.   Both men were residents of a four-apartment building Preston owned at 3235 Carlton Road in Cumming.

Paxton said that Lito apparently shot Preston to death in Preston’s apartment, then returned to his residence and took his own life.  The exact time of each death is yet to be determined, but investigators believe the shootings occurred either late Monday or sometime on Tuesday.

Preston’s body was discovered by a co-worker around 1:00 p.m. yesterday when Preston failed to show up for work.  The co-worker went to the apartment, found it unlocked and entered.  He immediately dialed 911 after finding Preston’s body.

Lito immediately became a person of interest in Preston’s death because Preston was a witness to a fight on July 24 between Lito and a resident of another apartment.  In that series of events, Lito was arrested by Forsyth County authorities and charged with aggravated battery.  The victim, a 50 year-old male, was severely beaten and was hospitalized.  When he was released from the hospital and returned home on August 5, he realized that his apartment had been burglarized and several guns taken.

Late yesterday, Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office investigators entered Lito’s apartment and found him dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.  The weapons stolen in the burglary were recovered in Lito’s apartment.

Lt. Col. Gene Moss, Commander of the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division, said that substantial evidence was recovered in Lito’s apartment which linked him to Preston’s death.

Both bodies were taken to the GBI Crime Lab for autopsies to determine the exact cause and time of their deaths.