By Beth Alston

AMERICUS — A funeral service for Southwestern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Plez H. Hardin, 48, will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday at Central Baptist Church. Visitation is from 2:30-4 p.m. at the church and Greg Hancock Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
Hardin’s body was found in his pickup truck at 2:22 p.m. Sunday behind a house at 116 E. Allen St., in Leslie. The house, which is currently vacant and owned by someone else, is where Hardin grew up. Hardin was pronounced dead at 3:05 p.m. by Sumter County Coroner Greg Hancock.
An autopsy was conducted Monday morning at the State Crime Lab in Macon.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation Region 3 Americus Office is handling the investigation. Special Agent in Charge, Danny Jackson said, “preliminary results from the autopsy indicate it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.” He said complete autopsy results won’t be available for a few weeks. He said Hardin shot himself in the chest sometime between approximately 12:40 and 2:22 p.m. Jackson said there is “nothing to indicate foul play or that anyone else is involved.”
After high school, Hardin received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Georgia Southwestern State University and juris doctorate in law from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University. He was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 2000. He was a member of Central Baptist Church and served on the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) board, a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity and the National Rifle Association.