Updated 8-25-10 @ 4:25pm

Saturday, 61-year-old Lynnwood Mathis walked into the echols county sheriff's office saying there was a body at his home.

Authorities followed him home and found 28-year-old Martha Felton covered in a blanket.

Echols County Coroner told us today he thought she was stabbed to death because there were no exit wounds.

However, a medical examiner from Macon, Georgia discovered the she died from being shot at close range by a shotgun.

The echols county coroner says he couldn't tell when he first examined the body because she was wet like she had been in the shower at the time of the murder.

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Updated 8-24-10 @ 7:00pm

Ramon Harrington has lived down the street from the home where the murder took place for more than 30 years and says killings here are rare but do happen.

"It's just where the nature of the people are like they're rough and tumble people they don't take no stuff from nobody, if you mess with them they'll hurt ya, said a neighbor Ramon Harrington."

On Saturday night, deputies say they followed 61-year-old Lynnwood Mathis home to 1488 Bethel Church Road... he told them there was a body there that he wrapped in a blanket. Authorities say they found 28-year-old Martha Felton stabbed to death.

"I knew the boy, I knew him back years ago when I guess he was a teenager. They always seemed very nice, typical boys," said Harrington.

Authorities say Mathis and Felton were in a relationship.

But exactly what happened on Saturday night that led to Felton's death is still being worked out.

As for those who work nearby, they say this tragedy doesn't affect how they feel about the area.

"Well it's always concerning when you hear about murders but very seldom do you hear of anything like that happening in our community, I feel like its still a safe place to be," said an Echols County worker Kristy Williams.
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South Georgia authorities say at around 11:15 PM Saturday night, 61-year-old Lynnwood Mathis walked into the Echols County Sherrif's office claiming to have found a dead woman in his house, and he had wrapped her in a blanket.

Deputies say they went to his trailer on 1488 Bethel Church Road in Lake Park,Georgia where they found 28-year-old Martha Felton wrapped in the blanket.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigations was also called in to investigate. Eventually, Echols County deputies say they charged Mathis with her murder.

He was transported to the Lowndes County Jail.