Second victim dies after downtown Athens triple shooting

Heartbreak has deepened in the Classic City today, Monday, March 16, 2026, as police confirm a second young man has died following a triple shooting in downtown Athens over the weekend. Dylan Bentley, 19, of Jefferson, passed away Sunday at a local hospital, one day after gunfire erupted in a parking lot on the 400 block of North Jackson Street near Hancock Avenue. His death follows that of Clayton Adams, 22, of Hull, who was pronounced dead at the scene early Saturday morning. A third victim, identified by family as 20-year-old Landon Skinner, remains in critical condition at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta after undergoing surgery for a gunshot wound to the eye.