After 2 months on the run, teen accused of killing stepdad arrested in DeKalb

Daniel has been charged with murder, aggravated assault, theft by taking, possession of a handgun by a person under 18 and possession of a firearm or knife during the commission of a crime, according to the Newton sheriff’s office. He was booked into the Newton jail and is being charged as an adult, a sheriff’s spokesperson said.

Days after her husband’s death, Kennethia McKibben-Gay told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution she had no idea what might have led her son to allegedly kill his stepdad. She also had no idea where the teen could have gone.

“I want Jayden to turn himself in and do the right thing,” McKibben-Gay said. “It’s only right. If you’re going to do adult things, you’re going to have to have adult consequences.”

The deadly shooting was the second time the family had been devastated by gun violence. McKibben-Gay lost her 19-year-old son in a shooting last summer.

Her oldest son, Kendarrius “KD” Spear, a 2023 graduate of Alcovy High School and basketball player at Stillman College in Alabama, was shot to death at a DeKalb apartment complex, McKibben-Gay said.

Within days, a teenager who had been one of KD’s friends, 18-year-old Jaylen Bailey, was arrested and charged with murder, according to DeKalb police. Three others — Denzel Collins, 15, Samuel Ponder, 24, and Jordan Finnissee, 20 — were soon also accused in the killing, and all four suspects were indicted on murder, aggravated assault and armed robbery charges in January, court records show.

McKibben-Gay and her family created a foundation to keep her son’s legacy alive. But losing her husband, allegedly by her other son’s actions, left her searching for answers.

“I feel like I lost everything that I’ve ever worked for in life within 10 months,” McKibben-Gay said.