A 31-year-old Marietta man was arrested Sunday after a brief standoff at the townhouse where he lives.
Justin Hess is accused of shooting his 61-year-old mother, Carol Hess, who lived in the upstairs part of the townhouse they share on Bridle Path in Marietta, Cobb County police spokesman Sgt. Dana Pierce said.
Hess is also suspected in a homicide that happened Saturday in Sandy Springs, police spokesman Capt. Mike Lindstrom said.
Hess’s mother was found shot to death after neighbors called 911 about 6:20 p.m. Saturday.
Witnesses told police they called 911 after hearing gun shots and watched Hess leave the Marietta residence shortly afterward, Pierce said.
When Sandy Springs police heard the Cobb County officials’ description of Hess, they said they thought he was likely involved in a homicide that happened later Saturday night.
Police believe Hess killed a man at the Extra Space Storage facility on Roswell Road and then stole the man’s red Audi S5.
The victim, later identified by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office as 52-year-old William Haynes of Sandy Springs, was found dead about 10 p.m. Saturday.
The red Audi S5 believed to belong to the man killed in the storage facility was stolen from the parking lot and later discovered at the Bridle Path residence, Lindstrom said. The Mazda 3 that belonged to Hess was left at the storage facility in Sandy Springs.
A neighbor saw Hess as he was returning to the townhouse and called 911 about 10:25 a.m. Sunday, Pierce said.
After a brief standoff with police and SWAT team members, the man walked out of his basement apartment about 12:40 p.m. and was arrested peacefully, Pierce said.
Hess was taken to Cobb County’s jail to be booked on two murder charges.
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