After two years on the run, the second suspect in what police believe was a botched drug deal that left one man dead and another injured outside a Sandy Springs Kroger in 2021 has been arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service.
Davonte Lavonne Childs, 27, was arrested Thursday in Ohio. Sandy Springs police believe he and Cortney Demar White are responsible for shooting and killing 22-year-old Yemi Ezekiel Mabiaku on Aug. 17, 2021. The second victim survived and was not publicly identified.
That day, the men were in the grocery store’s parking lot when Mabiaku was shot multiple times in the back. White and Childs were quickly identified as suspects, and warrants for their arrest were issued the next day, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.
White turned himself in the following week, but Childs remained at large until investigators here and in Ohio gathered information that he was hiding in Euclid, a suburb of Cleveland.
On Thursday, U.S. marshals located Childs at a home not far from Lake Erie, the agency said in a statement. When they approached, Childs pointed a handgun at them, officials said. Officers from other agencies responded to assist, and Childs eventually surrendered without further incident.
“Law enforcement never gave up on this case, and the U.S. Marshals (Service) never gives up on finding their fugitives,” U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott said in a statement. “Anyone on the run should know you will be found if the U.S. Marshals are looking for you.”
Childs will remain in custody in Cleveland until he can be extradited to Fulton County.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has reached out for an update on White’s case.
About the Author
