It started with a teenager shot to death around 8 p.m. Three hours later, a 30-year-old man was found dead between cars at an apartment complex. Just before midnight, a father of four was found shot on a front porch. He died at the hospital.
Late Thursday, three people were shot to death in less than four hours in Atlanta, bringing the total number of homicides in July to eight, and the total for the year to 50, according to police.
The city remains on pace to surpass the 2017 total, based on the number of homicides at the end of June — 42 this year versus 37 last year. Atlanta police investigated a total of 79 homicides in 2017, a sharp drop from 111 in 2016.
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
Credit: JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM
“Gun violence in our communities is deeply concerning and three shooting deaths in such a short period of time is unacceptable,” Officer Lisa Bender said. “There is no indication that these shootings are related. Rather, they appear to be independent acts of violence.
By early Friday afternoon, Atlanta police had made one arrest and vowed to find the others responsible.
“Our homicide investigators are among the best in the business and we are confident that they will identify the offenders and get them off the streets,” Bender said.
The first suspect arrested is accused of killing 17-year-old Trayvon Muhammad, according to police. Trayvon, of Atlanta, was found shot to the chest and the leg in the 3000 block of Delmar Lane.
Investigators believe Trayvon was involved in a dispute with Tremayne Smith, who fired shots at the teenager. Smith, 36, was charged with murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He was previously convicted of drug possession, court records showed. Smith is expected to make his first court appearance Saturday morning.
Credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office
Two other shooting deaths remained under investigation late Friday.
Around 11 p.m. Thursday, officers were called to the Verbena Garden apartments in northwest Atlanta. In the parking lot between cars, the body of 30-year-old Deonta Wallace was found. Few details about the shooting death were available.
In the final deadly shooting of the night, investigators believe a shootout started on Simmons Street, off Hollowell Parkway, and continued to the front porch of a home. A man in his 40s was found in the front doorway and later died at Grady Memorial Hospital, according to police.
Investigators aren’t sure how many people were involved in the shooting, but believe multiple rounds were fired.
The man’s name was not released late Friday. But family members, who gathered outside the home Friday morning to pray, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he was a father of four.
“He took care of his kids,” the victim’s brother, who identified himself as Chris, said Friday morning. “They were all he had.”
His brother said he doesn’t know why the man was shot, and he doubts he’ll ever have answers.
“If anybody knows anything ... I’m begging them, urging,” he said. “I just need to know something.”
Anyone with information on any of the homicides is asked to contact Atlanta police or Crime Stopper Atlanta.
—Staff writers Chelsea Prince and John Spink contributed to this article.
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