Two friends, 18 and 19, killed by lightning while fishing, Georgia family says

Two recent high school graduates were caught in a thunderstorm while fishing in Georgia when they were both struck by lightning and killed, according to officials and family members.

The Ware County Sheriff’s Office and family identified them as 18-year-old Joey Nelson Jr. and 19-year-old Randall Martin III.

The friends were 2025 graduates of Ware County High School and played for their school’s football team together, according to the City of Waycross, where both of them lived.

“Joey and Randall were fun loving kids who brought smiles to their teammates’ faces,” the county’s athletics page posted on Facebook. “Our prayers are with their families and friends at this time.”

Severe weather descended over southern Georgia the evening of Thursday, July 10, when the two friends were fishing, officials said.

Nelson and Martin were in an open field by a vehicle when they got caught in the storm, and lightning struck them both, according to the National Weather Service in Jacksonville.

Family members rushed to the scene and started providing aid, deputies said.

“When I got here and I saw him lying out here I was like, Lord, this cannot be this passionate baby...” Martin’s aunt, Tangie Jenkins, told WTLV.

Deputies and emergency medical personnel started rendering aid, but both men died at the scene, according to the sheriff’s office.

“That was his passion,” Martin’s grandfather, Stanley Evans, told WTLV. “And he passed doing what he loved, by fishing.”

Authorities suspected lightning had killed them, and the coroner contacted the National Weather Service to see if strikes had been reported in the area, a spokesperson from the NWS told McClatchy News.

Meteorologists confirmed several lightning strikes hit the area during the severe thunderstorm warning.

Nelson’s mom wrote on Facebook that the bond she had with her son was “unbreakable.”

“My best friend, my mini me ... just out fishing and doing what you loved to do,” his mom shared on social media.

The autopsy results are still pending, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the lead agency.

Waycross is in south Georgia, about an 80-mile drive northwest from Jacksonville.

This story was originally published July 14, 2025 at 12:47 PM with the headline "Two friends, 18 and 19, killed by lightning while fishing, Georgia family says."