DNA testing ongoing after dismembered body found in Smyrna, police say

Editor’s note: This story contains graphic details.

No one has been charged with killing a woman whose dismembered body was found at a Smyrna apartment complex, police said Friday, though an 18-year-old arrested in the case is considered a “person of interest.”

Officials have not released the victim’s identity amid DNA testing, but they quickly charged the teenager currently behind bars, Kingston Bradley, with concealing the death of another. Smyrna police Lt. Meredith Holt said the agency is continuing to sort through evidence to determine whether there are any other possible suspects in the killing.

Holt described Bradley as a “person of interest” in the woman’s death.

“We have not directly connected him to any possible instruments or anything like that. I do know that we, on search warrants, have recovered a significant amount of evidence or things that could possibly be evidence, things that could be related to the crime, and we’re in the process of sorting through that,” she said.

An attorney representing Bradley in an unrelated case did not respond to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s request for comment.

Police said they are also continuing to interview multiple people, including Bradley’s father, who lived with him at Park Valley Apartments.

Two days ago, on Wednesday evening, Holt said officers went to the complex off Cobb Drive on a call about a missing person, whose family told police “the victim’s phone and the vehicle” were at Park Valley.

After about 30 minutes of unsuccessful searching, including knocking on doors, police left, but soon returned around 8:15 p.m. after a witness reported seeing Bradley carrying a “plastic tub” with a dismembered body, according to Holt and an arrest warrant.

Holt, when asked Friday if investigators were still looking for more remains, said police are searching for more evidence. She said people who believe they are related to the victim are undergoing DNA testing to confirm the woman’s identity.

“This is a particularly gruesome crime. I cannot imagine what the family is going through,” Holt told reporters outside the police department Friday afternoon.

Smyrna police Lt. Meredith Holt speaks at a news conference on Friday, September 25, 2026, regarding their investigation into a recent homicide at the Park Valley Apartments. (Ben Hendren for the AJC)

According to Bradley’s arrest warrants, a witness observed him carrying the tub with a body, and when he realized he had been spotted, he dropped it on a dirt walkway and fled to his nearby apartment. Inside the tub was a “dismembered torso,” the warrant said.

“A subsequent search warrant of the said accused’s apartment revealed several areas of blood staining and a large bloody saw. The apartment also stunk of bleach and contained a mop bucket with water and mop in addition to a carpet cleaner,” the warrant said.

Holt said Smyrna police are trying to determine the connection between Bradley and the victim.

A Sandy Springs police officer assists Smyrna police in a homicide investigation at the Park Valley Apartments on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (Ben Hendren for the AJC)

A separate Cobb County case against Bradley dating back nearly two years remains open.

Bradley was indicted in February of this year and then pleaded not guilty in April to two counts of terroristic threats, simple battery family violence, battery and criminal trespass, court records show. Those charges stem from an incident in December 2024.

According to warrants and an indictment, Bradley is accused of “suggesting the death” of two men who share his last name, one of whom is his father. He is also accused of striking his father in the head with a video game controller, hitting a 15-year-old who shares his last name with a video game controller and pushing him into a window, and damaging a door and window.