JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville man has been charged with second-degree murder after a naked body was found wrapped in plastic November 2022 in a body of water in Brantley County, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
Timothy Peeples, 45, was identified as a suspect in the crime by the JSO Homicide Unit. He was officially charged Tuesday, June 6 with Murder.
Peeples also is facing charges of Abuse of a Dead Human Body, False Imprisonment — Adult (two counts), False Imprisonment — Child under 13 years of age, Tampering with Evidence, and Possession of a Firearm or Concealed Weapon by a Convicted Felon.
According to JSO’s online Inmate Information Search shows, Peeples had been in police custody in the Duval County Jail since February 9, 2023 on a charge of Possession of a Firearm or Concealed Weapon by a Convicted Felon, JSO’s online Inmate Information Search shows.
A November 11 autopsy conducted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation identified the body of John Edward Moss, 47, of Jacksonville, Fla., according to GBI Special Agent-in-Charge Stacie Carson.
The body of Moss was found Wednesday, November 10 wrapped in plastic under the bridge on White Ford Road about three miles from Hickox. The location was a half-mile from where Peeples’ lived with his ex-wife.
The Brantley County Sheriff’s Office received a call about “something suspicious” under the bridge and responded to the location where the body was located.
Brantley Sheriff Len Davis notified the Kingsland office of the GBI turning the case over.
“This is a multi-agency investigation involving local, state, and out of state authorities,” Davis said. “The GBI and JSO are overwhelmingly confident that the crime happened down there.”
“It appeared the body had been there for at least a week, possibly more than a week,” Carson said during a November interview. “We believe the incident happened in Jacksonville and have turned the entire investigation over to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Department.”
Authorities said Moss was shot once in the head after an altercation with Peeples. They learned the shooting happened after a Halloween birthday party for Moss’s son.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office had responded to a missing person’s case November 10 in the 4600 block of Lenoir Avenue involving possible foul play two days after visiting the residence for a welfare check on Moss. The JSO was later contacted November 10 by the GBI about a body of a dead man being located in a body of water in Brantley County.
JSO said based on evidence and the physical description of the victim, the victim was positively identified. The JSO Homicide Unit took over the investigation and identified Peeples as a suspect and an arrest warrant for his new charges was received Tuesday, June 6.
His next court date is set for Wednesday, June 28 at 9 a.m.
