‘Heartless’: Friend allegedly shot 18-year-old before setting car ablaze
A good friend of an 18-year-old woman who was found dead in her burning car in East Point last month was arrested and accused of killing her, authorities said.
Kingston Corneli Hyman-Bozeman, 24, of Atlanta, faces a malice murder charge after being arrested by Clayton County police around 2 a.m. Friday, according to jail records.
He’s accused of shooting 18-year-old Talya Torres, a recent Villa Rica High School graduate, before leaving her car ablaze near the intersection of Connally Court and Connally Drive, Channel 2 Action News reported.
RELATED: 18-year-old woman found dead in burning car in East Point
Torres’ mother, Pearlier Haynes, told Channel 2 Action News that Hyman-Bozeman was like a part of the family and even called her after news of her daughter’s death broke.
“And he broke down crying — boo hoo crying,” she said. “He was like, ‘Momma, no. Tell me you’re lying. Tell me this isn’t true.’”
Within hours of East Point police finding Torres’ body, someone tried to use her debit card at a BB&T bank in the Camp Creek Marketplace, AJC.com previously reported. Surveillance images from the bank showed a man and the distinctive shoes he was wearing.
After news reports aired about the incident, a tipster recognized him and called authorities, leading to Hyman-Bozeman’s arrest, Channel 2 reported. The tipster said he spoke about her homicide and had burns on his hands.
Detectives told the news station they believe he shot Torres multiple times as they rode together on Clark Howell Parkway. Police said he shot her over a money dispute, while Haynes said he was upset her daughter wouldn’t date him.
This mother says the family friend police say murdered her daughter and left her in a burning car was in love with her daughter and wanted a relationship she refused to give. Why she thinks he quickly confessed when he was arrested. That’s at 5. @wsbtv pic.twitter.com/nB3aU0D8vQ
— Tom Jones (@TomJonesWSBTV) February 1, 2019
“He needs to be under a jail,” she said. “Knowing the entire time that he did it — wow, I mean heartless.”
Channel 2 reported that additional charges are pending against Hyman-Bozeman, who remains in the Clayton County Jail without bond.
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About the Author
Zachary Hansen, a Georgia native, covers economic development and commercial real estate for the AJC. He's been with the newspaper since 2018 and enjoys diving into complex stories that affect people's lives.
