For about two years, 16-year-old Samyah Copeland and her 15-year-old boyfriend Christopher Andrews had an on-again, off-again relationship, her brother said.
Late Monday, teen love ended in tragedy. A relative of the boy found the dead bodies of Andrews and Copeland inside a home on Montego Circle. The teenagers, who attended Riverdale High School, had been shot to death in a murder-suicide, Clayton County police Sgt. Ashanti Marbury said.
“It appears that the male subject shot and killed the female before shooting himself,” Marbury said.
Clayton Police Chief Michael Register said the 15-year-old used his father’s gun.
By Tuesday afternoon, little was known about the couple and what could have led to their tragic ends.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation Medical Examiner’s Office was expected to perform autopsies later Tuesday, according to Channel 2 Action News.
Copeland was last seen Monday during sixth period, the television station reported.
“She made everybody happy,” her father, Jermaine Carroll, told Channel 2. Other relatives described her as the “star of the family.”
Gloria Jolly, a resident on Montego Circle, said she would occasionally see Andrews walking a dog. She learned about the deaths about an hour after their bodies were discovered.
“I never seen the young lady,” Jolly said, “but I was just wondering what was going through their minds.”
Clayton County Public Schools spokeswoman Jada Dawkins said a crisis team was at Riverdale High to assist students and staff.
"Pray for RHS students this morning," someone wrote in a Twitter post.
— Staff writer Tammy Joyner contributed to this article.
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