Police have released photos of a “person of interest” in the case of a man found beaten, choked and stabbed to death in his downtown Decatur apartment Wednesday afternoon.

Officers conducted a wellness check at a home in the Trinity Walk Apartments just before 4:30 p.m., Decatur police told AJC.com. Inside, they discovered the body of 31-year-old Keonte Rapheal Metts.

The DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s office said Metts died of blunt force trauma, strangulation and multiple stab wounds.

On Thursday, detectives released surveillance photos of a man they said was with Metts on Tuesday evening.

The man seen in this surveillance photo has been identified as a person of interest in the case of a 31-year-old Decatur man found dead inside his apartment Wednesday.

Credit: Decatur Police Department

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Credit: Decatur Police Department

Anyone who recognizes the man is urged to contact investigators at 678-553-6664 or call Crime Stoppers Greater Atlanta at 404-577-8477.

The GBI is assisting Decatur police in their investigation.

The apartment complex, located at 421 West Trinity Place, was the site of a brutal stabbing in 2018 that killed an eighth-grade Renfroe Middle School student.

Royce Stewart was accused of fatally stabbing his 14-year-old niece, Shykia Ward-Reese, and his sister’s boyfriend, Manuel De Jesus Franco, 35, before stealing a silver Ford Mustang convertible on March 25, 2018.

RELATED: Murder suspect in DeKalb stabbings in custody

IN-DEPTH: Police arrest suspect in Decatur stabbings that killed teen, man

Stewart, 36, was arrested on murder charges in downtown Decatur one day later, not long after dumping the car during a chase with DeKalb sheriff’s deputies, AJC.com previously reported. His charges are still pending in DeKalb County Superior Court.

— Please return to AJC.com for updates.

In other news: 

This came after a Channel 2 Action News investigation.

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