2018 Update: Inside the gang killing spree that killed these children and 3 others
The Clayton County police chief said Monday he believes a gang's act of retaliation led to the shooting deaths of a 15-year-old boy and his 11-year-old sister inside their home.
Daveon and Tatiyana Coates were sleeping in separate rooms in their Libby Lane home when they were killed early Saturday. Four younger children were also in the home but were not harmed, and one was able to call 911. No adults were in the house at the time of the home invasion.
“We’re not going to spare any resource to find out who’s responsible for the deaths of that precious little 11-year-old girl and her brother, 15 years old,” Chief Mike Register said. “The indications are that their only crime is they were at home sleeping.”
In an interview with Channel 2 Action News, Register called those responsible "punk" and "coward" for killing the siblings during the home invasion. Register said investigators believe another 15-year-old who was not in the home was the intended target of a gang retaliation. Police were looking for that teenager, whose name was not released.
The FBI and the Chattanooga, Tenn., police department are assisting with the investigation. A shootout between vehicles on a Chattanooga street Sunday afternoon is believed to be related to the Clayton County homicides, Register said.
“They took the lives of someone else’s child, her daughter, her son,” Register said. “If you have any information and you don’t act on that information, you could be responsible for the same people taking someone else’s daughter or son from them.”
The siblings’ mother had taken in another family who needed help, according to police. Investigators believe the second family included the 15-year-old intended target and four other children.
Daveon was in the 10th grade at Mundy's Mill High School, and Tatiyana was a sixth-grader at Pointe South Middle School. Neighbors on the street said the family had moved into the 1970s' ranch-style home about a month ago. A Go Fund Me fundraising page was created to assist the family with funeral costs.
“God bless your beautiful angels,” one donor posted. “Prayers for your family.”
Patricia Sanes, who has lived on Libby Lane for more than 30 years, said she was shocked by the siblings' deaths. Sanes recently sold her home and plans to move closer to family in Henry County. But she had been second-guessing her decision until she heard about the shootings.
"You hear about Clayton County all the time, but nothing has happened around here that I know of," Sanes told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "It doesn't make sense to me."
Register said he was horrified by the children’s deaths and angered at the brazenness of the crime.
“Things like this should not be happening,” he said. “It shouldn’t be happening anywhere in the world.”
Anyone with information on the deaths is asked to contact Clayton County police.
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