Man arrested in Christmas Eve killing at East Point store
After nine months on the run, a man accused of killing a soon-to-be father of twins on Christmas Eve is now behind bars, according to Fulton County arrest records.
Justin Rashaad Hodges, 36, was booked into the Fulton jail Thursday and faces several charges, including murder, in connection with the killing of 34-year-old Scott Melton outside an East Point Family Dollar store. Hodges is being held without bond, jail records show.
Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the shooting.
Hodges’ girlfriend was the store manager, according to a warrant for his arrest, and he regularly went to work with her and waited for her inside the store. Several witnesses, including Family Dollar employees, knew him well and identified him to East Point detectives.
According to the warrant, security cameras recorded him chasing Melton out of the Delowe Drive store before shooting him in the head in the parking lot.
Moments before the shooting, cameras showed Melton stop running and lean up against a car outside the store when Hodges allegedly pointed the gun at him, detectives noted in the warrant. Hodges proceeded to push Melton, hit him in the head and shoot him, the warrant says. Melton then fell to the ground, where officers found him unresponsive.
By April, a $10,000 reward was offered for information leading to Hodges’ arrest.
In addition to murder, he faces charges of aggravated assault, battery and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
At the time of the killing, Melton’s wife of four months, Alize Forshee-Melton, was pregnant with twins, she previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The young widow was distraught her babies would never meet their “amazing dad who I know was so ready for them,” the AJC reported.
