Man charged with manslaughter in northwest Atlanta shooting

What may have started as a joke between two people ended with one shot to death and the other facing criminal charges, police said Thursday.

Investigators were called late Wednesday to the Envoy at Northside gated apartment complex in the 300 block of Northside Drive, a few blocks north of the Georgia Dome, according to police. There, they found a 22-year-old dead from a gunshot wound.

“It appears that the victim may have been joking around, but the suspect took it more seriously,” Major Adam Lee said.

The man killed was identified as Demetrius Merrill, 22, of Chicago, the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office said. Brandon Stone has been charged with manslaughter in the case, Lee said.

Stone was given the lesser charge, instead of murder, because investigators determined both Merrill and Stone had guns, Lee said. Only Stone’s weapon had been discharged, according to police.

“The killing is not justified, but it’s not a murder,” Lee said.

It was not known Thursday evening whether Stone was in custody.