Three DeKalb County teenagers have been charged with murder in the Friday morning shooting death of Shaneku McCurty outside a gas station on Redan Road.
McCurty, 25, was outside the Chevron Food Mart at Redan Road and South Indian Creek Drive when she was confronted by several suspects. She resisted and was shot.
DeKalb County Deputy Chief Operating Officer of Public Safety Cedric Alexander said Saturday that two brothers — ages 15 and 16 — were arrested in the case, as well as another 16-year-old. The latter is believed to be the shooter.
All three suspects have been charged with felony murder, and the district attorney’s office will ultimately decide whether or not to charge them as adults, Alexander said. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is not naming the suspects because that decision has not yet been made.
Alexander said the brothers turned themselves in to the homicide unit late Friday, and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office fugitive unit, U.S. Marshals task force and Atlanta Police Department continued to pursue leads through the night.
Police believed the third suspect “was holed up in Atlanta. They continued pursuing, creating the pressure needed that caused him to turn himself in to the sheriff’s department fugitives office.”
He turned himself in after 3 a.m. Saturday morning.
“This was a very horrific case that was suffered in this community,” Alexander said. “All too often we see this. This was a very innocent victim. Twenty-five years of age, coming home from work, merely stopped by the store three minutes from her home.”
Alexander said the swift arrest of the three suspects shows that “these types of violent acts will not be tolerated. And if they occur it is important to know we will pursue you as we promised we would yesterday. We will not stop until justice comes to bear.”
Alexander said he could not yet say if the suspects planned the assault or if it was a spontaneous decision. He also would not say where they got a gun.
“Those three young people, subjects in this case were dropped off there at the store, just hanging out,” he said. “What their initial intent was, whether that was already planned by then or that was a decision made in the moment, much of that is still to be determined.”
Alexander said the case shows the need for strong parenting and community involvement with area youth.
“Who was responsible for these young people?” he said. “What were they doing out at 1:20 in the morning? What were they doing with a firearm? It certainly does raise a lot of questions. But here again, this is where family and community have to play an important part.
“What we need is more parenting. So these kids don’t end up on the street. Because over time what we generally find, the outcome is usually not going to be a good one for those who are out there at such a young age with no guidance, no supervision.”
Still, Alexander said, the suspects’ parents did get involved once it became clear their children might have been involved.
“What we’re going to see, what will be revealed as part of this investigation, is that once the parents learned of the involvement of their children, they became part of the investigation in a positive way,” he said.
