Teen arrested after 12-year-old killed in drive-by shooting in SW Atlanta

A 19-year-old was arrested and charged with murder late Friday, one day after a drive-by shooting killed a boy in southwest Atlanta, according to police.

Michael Darnell Hollis of Snellville was charged with murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, police said.

Hollis was taken into custody by Gwinnett County police and later booked into the Fulton County jail.

Late Thursday, Atlanta police Chief Darin Schierbaum said 12-year-old Ja’Nylen Amir Greggs was killed when shots were fired at an apartment complex in the 3200 block of Cushman Circle.

“What we currently know is that there were two groups here at the apartment complex and that a conflict occurred between those two groups,” Schierbaum said from the scene.

“One group returned to a blue car, and once they entered that car and started to drive down the street, they opened fire on the group they had been in an argument with just moments before. In that exchange of gunfire, the 12-year-old was shot.”

Schierbaum said investigators were actively searching for those responsible for the shooting.

Ja’Nylen is Atlanta’s youngest homicide victim of the year, according to police. And though the homicide rate has dropped the past two years, Schierbaum said both the city and the community lost a child Thursday night because of senseless gun violence.

The boy’s mother said Ja’Nylen was “the center of her world” on a GoFundMe page created to assist with funeral costs.

“Ja’Nylen was a bright, energetic, and kind-hearted young boy with a promising future,” the fundraising page states. “His sudden passing has left his family and community devastated. In this incredibly difficult time, his mother is facing not only the emotional pain of losing her son but also the financial burden of arranging his funeral.”

Thursday’s incident came less than a month after a shooting at the same complex. On May 19, a 28-year-old man was shot in the head, according to police. He was alert while being taken to the hospital, police said at the time.

In a separate incident in September 2023, 49-year-old Darryl Chambers was shot to death at the complex, according to police. In February, a second suspect was arrested in that homicide.