Gwinnett police release names of men killed during alleged drug deal

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By Mike Morris

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Gwinnett County police on Wednesday released the names of two people fatally shot and two others wounded in a gunfight that broke out Tuesday afternoon during what investigators said was a drug deal.

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An unidentified woman (right) reacts at the scene where a triple shooting took place on 2000 block of Ivy Crest Drive in Buford on Tuesday afternoon, January 31, 2012.

Hyosub Shin, hshin@ajc.com An unidentified woman (right) reacts at the scene where a triple shooting took place on 2000 block of Ivy Crest Drive in Buford on Tuesday afternoon, January 31, 2012.

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The picture shows the house where a triple shooting took place on 2000 block of Ivy Crest Drive in Buford on Tuesday afternoon, January 31, 2012. The Gwinnett County Police Homicide Unit is currently investigating a triple shooting that resulted in the death of two males.

Hyosub Shin, hshin@ajc.com The picture shows the house where a triple shooting took place on 2000 block of Ivy Crest Drive in Buford on Tuesday afternoon, January 31, 2012. The Gwinnett County Police Homicide Unit is currently investigating a triple shooting that resulted in the death of two males.

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The Gwinnett County Police Department investigates on scene where third victim was found. This location was less than a block away from the scene of a triple shooting that took place on 2000 block of Ivy Crest Drive in Buford on Tuesday afternoon, January 31, 2012.

Hyosub Shin, hshin@ajc.com The Gwinnett County Police Department investigates on scene where third victim was found. This location was less than a block away from the scene of a triple shooting that took place on 2000 block of Ivy Crest Drive in Buford on Tuesday afternoon, January 31, 2012.

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Police received a call around 2 p.m. Tuesday about a shooting on Ivy Crest Drive in an unincorporated area of Buford.

When they arrived at the home, officers found Daniel Turpin, 23, of Buford and Trenton Jones, 23, of Lawrenceville dead of gunshot wounds and Justin Kendall, 23, of Buford wounded, Gwinnett police Cpl. Edwin Ritter said.

Ritter said that a fourth person involved in the shootout, Haile Lewis, 23, of Lawrenceville, was shot multiple times but left the scene in a vehicle. He said that Lewis later showed up at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta in a stolen car seeking medical treatment.

"Investigators learned that Mr. Turpin brokered a drug deal with Mr. Lewis and Mr. Jones," Ritter said Wednesday.

When Lewis and Jones arrived at the home to make the transaction with Turpin and Kendall, "the deal fell through and Mr. Lewis began beating Mr. Turpin when gunfire erupted from both parties," Ritter said. "Once the gunfire ended, Mr. Turpin and Mr. Jones lay deceased at the residence" and Kendall ran to a nearby home for help.

Ritter said Lewis was charged with one count of murder, one count of aggravated assault and one drug charge.

He added that there was a 17-year-old female also inside the house, but she did not witness the incident and had no connection to the drug transaction.

A neighbor called 911 after one of the shooting victims came to her door, according to Channel 2 Action News.

"He was just banging on the door, yelling, ‘Help me! Help me! I've been shot!'" Whitney Patrick said. "We were in the living room. We came to the door and called 911."

Patrick told Channel 2 Kendall appeared to have been shot multiple times.

"He had a couple in his neck," she said. "He had one in his forearm. So I think he was shot about four or five times."