DeKalb County authorities have arrested a 29-year-old man and charged him with the shooting death of a 15-year-old walking along a dark street earlier this week.

Police on Friday charged Bruce Howard with the Wednesday night death of Jaylon Maddox. The teen and a friend, 27-year-old Justin Sellers, were walking along the 3000 block of Ember Drive in unincorporated DeKalb when an older-model, white car approached them around 9:30 p.m.

Both were shot, but Sellers survived, police said. They think the pedestrians were robbery targets.

The DeKalb sheriff’s office fugitive squad located Howard on Jonesboro Road in Atlanta. They arrested him without incident.

Police want to make a second arrest, too. They don’t think the alleged gunman was alone.

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Students in Jeremy Lowe's fourth grade class at Parkside Elementary read "warm-up plays" they wrote on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. Atlanta Public Schools saw significant improvement in fourth grade math and reading scores on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress. (Miguel Martinez/ AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez