Atlanta boy arrested in store clerk shooting

Atlanta police arrested a teenage boy this week on charges he shot and killed a local store clerk who once worked as an educator in Nigeria.

Antoine Wimes, 17, turned himself in to authorities on Monday in connection with the July 13 shooting of Etus “Obi” Onyemaechi, 48, of Clayton County, said Atlanta police detective David Quinn, who investigated the case.

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Antoine Wimes

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Quinn said Wimes, then 16, shot Onyemaechi numerous times after walking into a Quick Stop Food Mart on Cascade Road and asking for a $5 T-shirt, Quinn said.

Onyemaechi did not work at the store regularly, but was filling in for a friend, Quinn said. Rather than being employed full-time, he spent his days caring for his wife, who suffers from kidney failure.

“It’s a pitiful story,” Quinn said. “This guy did not deserve to go like this.”

The couple moved to the United States about 12 years ago from Nigeria, Quinn said. Onyemaechi held two master’s degrees, including one in mathematics, the detective said.

About two months ago, a witness contacted police and fingered Wimes as the shooter, Quinn said. Police then found other evidence that strengthened the case against the boy, but Quinn declined to elaborate.

He will be tried as an adult, Quinn said.