Friend charged with murder in deaths of Gwinnett brothers

Walter Hill has been charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of two Gwinnett County brothers.

Credit: Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office

Credit: Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office

Walter Hill has been charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of two Gwinnett County brothers.

A man accused of killing two brothers as they slept has been arrested and charged with two counts of murder, according to the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office.

Walter Devron Hill, 28, was arrested Wednesday, more than two months after the deadly shooting. Hill, who was considered a family friend, was charged with two counts each of murder and aggravated assault.

On March 28, Tyreene Brown drove from her home in north Gwinnett County to her sons’ home near Lawrenceville after being unable to reach them by phone. She let herself in with her key and found two of her sons dead inside. Darius Myles, 28, and his youngest brother, Christopher Smith, 21, had been shot while they slept, the family said.

Myles, 28, was the father of four. His brother had recently moved in with him, the family said. “C.J.” was the youngest of six siblings.

There were no signs of forced entry at the home, the family said. Brown said she and other family members were able to provide investigators with clues to identify a suspect.

“This person used to come to our house often, especially for Sunday dinner,” Brown told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

About two weeks ago, investigators had enough evidence to secure a warrant for Hill’s arrest, Brown said. But it took until Wednesday for him to be arrested.

Darius Myles (left) and C.J. Smith were found shot to death in a Lawrenceville-area home.

Credit: Family photos

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Credit: Family photos

“It can help someone else from feeling what I’m feeling if we could get him arrested,” Brown said earlier this week.

Gwinnett police and the U.S. Marshals Service located Brown in DeKalb County, the Gwinnett sheriff’s office said.

The arrest brought her and her family some relief. They didn’t feel safe at home until earlier this week when they returned to their own beds, Brown said. She had increased the security system out of fear that the person who killed her sons would try to hurt other family members.

“We still don’t really know what set him off,” Brown said.

Hill was being held without bond Thursday at the Gwinnett jail.