DEL.ICIO.USUpdated: 2:29 p.m. July 12, 2009
Cobb suicide victim ‘directly involved’ in killing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, July 10, 2009
The passenger who shot himself in the head at the end of a high-speed chase Friday evening was “directly involved” in an Austell home invasion that morning that left one man dead and three wounded, Cobb County police said Sunday.
The chase, which hit speeds of 85 miles per hour, began on South Gordon Road and ended on Six Flags Parkway around 7:15 p.m. Friday. Before committing suicide, the front-seat passenger fired through the back window of the 1994 Mercury Marquis, hitting the front of the pursuing cruiser.
John Spink / jspink@ajc.com
Cobb County medical examiner speaks with Cobb police officers at the scene of Friday’s shooting.
Police identified the passenger as Isaiah Walker, 26, of Austell.
The driver, Marcus Bernard Woodward, 25, of Hiram, was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, obstruction of law enforcement, attempting to elude police and being a party to a crime.
“He knew about the homicide and yet still transported the suspect,” said Sgt. Dana Pierce, Cobb police spokesman.
A 34-year-old woman in the backseat was not charged.
The chase capped a terrifying crime spree that began with the home invasion around 2:45 a.m.
Officers responding to the house on Brass Trail found 20-year-old Nicholas Garner shot to death. His older brother, Aaron, and two other Cobb men also were shot, but they’re expected to recover.
Less than an hour later, a woman was found dead in a burned-out Chevrolet Impala at South Gordon and Old Alabama roads, not far from the house on Brass Trail.
That Impala, along with the Marquis, were seen on Brass Trail around the time of the home invasion. So police believe the woman’s death is connected.
Then Friday evening, detectives questioning witnesses on South Gordon Road spotted the Marquis. A short chase ensued.
As the Marquis crossed over Factory Shoals Road, Walker shot through the back window and struck the police cruiser, police said. Officers soon saw Walker shoot himself in the head, police said.
Moments later, the Marquis stopped. The woman got out and sat down on the sidewalk. Woodward surrendered without incident.
Pierce said investigators are looking for at least two more men they believe committed the home invasion with Walker.
As for motive, Pierce listed a number of possibilities.
“Gang activity, the hope of a rap career, we’re talking robbery, money and drugs — we’re not eliminating any of those as a possibility,” he said. “One of the suspects directly involved is deceased. We’re going to have to rely on the other ones still out there on the loose to tell us what may have been the motive. We won’t get that until we catch ‘em.”
An autopsy has not yet been conducted on the female victim.
“We’ll know for certain at that point what she died of,” Pierce said. “We have a fairly decent idea of who she is but we have some confirming to do before we release that.”
Anyone with information about the homicides is asked to call police at (770) 499-3945. Callers can remain anonymous.
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