CHEROKEE COUNTY, GA (KTRK) -- The friends and family of a 19-year-old man were stunned Sunday when his stepfather allegedly went to a church to confess he had killed him.
"It's really hard to process," says friend Lexi Pulliam. "As soon as we saw your news van, it was like just reality hit and it was like, this is it, this is the proof he's actually gone."
Sheriff's deputies say Bryce McCallum was shot and killed inside his Woodstock, Georgia home by his stepfather, Carl Lewis.
SEE ALSO: Police say 10-year-old boy fatally stabbed abusive stepfather
Lewis went to the Woodstock First Baptist Church and told a police officer that he had shot his stepson.
McCallum's body was found sitting in a chair, and that is when Lewis was arrested by police. He is now charged with murder.
Friends of the victim say McCallum was afraid of Lewis, and had gotten into a fight with his stepfather after he punched the victim's younger brother in the face.
SEE ALSO: Argument between siblings led to 19-year-old's death
"Bryce wasn't having that, so he stuck up for his blood brother like anybody should," friend Chris Kandra says.
The victim's mother allegedly kicked Lewis out of the house, but he was permitted to come back. A short time later, McCallum was dead and Lewis found himself in the custody of law enforcement.
SEE ALSO: Man accused of fatally stabbing stepfather in Montgomery County