GREENVILLE — Meriwether County Sheriff’s Office officials announced Tuesday they arrested a suspect in the murder of Kenneth Michael Spice, 31, of Newnan.

Spice’s body was discovered in a wooded area in the 100 block of Primrose Circle in Meriwether County by a homeowner on June 15.

Meriwether County Sheriff Chuck Smith said investigators arrested Timiquae Marquan Slaton, 22, of Newnan and charged him with murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and arson in the second degree.

Investigators located evidence and developed leads through interviews and electronic media sources that lead them to Slaton as a possible suspect in the case, Smith said. The investigation gave investigators enough probable cause to execute a search warrant on Slaton’s home, he added.

During the early morning hours of July 31, the Meriwether County Sheriff’s Office, Upson Regional Narcotics Task Force, the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office and agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation went to Slaton’s residence, according to information from the Meriwether sheriff’s office.

“During the search we were able to locate additional evidence that tied back to our initial crime scene investigation,” Smith said. “Slaton was also found to be in possession of a small amount of marijuana. This led to Slaton being charged with possession of marijuana by the sheriff’s office and a subsequent hold was placed on him for probation violation.

GBI crime scene agents assisted the sheriff’s office recovering and submitting items during the search of Slaton’s home, Smith said.

“The GBI Crime Lab was able to provide us with a positive match on items recovered from the search warrant execution and our initial crime scene,” he said. “This recovery and positive match along with other circumstantial evidence has ultimately lead us to being able to obtain warrants for Slaton’s arrest in this case investigation.”

Smith added investigators also learned Slaton and Spice had worked together at Yamaha in Newnan prior to the investigation.

“I’m very pleased with the effort put forth by all agencies involved that led to an arrest in this matter,” Smith said. “I am especially proud of the way our investigators handled this investigation from the beginning with their protection, processing and investigating the crime scene and the subsequent case investigation. Our lead investigator did an outstanding job of tracking down the information as it came available and following up to get us to where we are now in this case investigation.”

He added that the sheriff’s office will continue to follow up on any new leads and the case is “not necessarily” closed. The GBI Crime Lab was still processing evidence.