Three teenagers wanted in connection with a Gwinnett County deadly shooting have been arrested in Tennessee, authorities said Thursday.
Jamar Quarles, 17, and two minors, ages 15 and 16, were tracked by U.S. marshals to two locations in Memphis and taken into custody without incident. According to the U.S. Marshals Service, they were wanted in a July 1 shooting at an apartment complex near Lawrenceville that resulted in the death of Kapri Ward, 29.
Quarles was also critically injured in the shooting, Gwinnett police said at the time. Ward’s father said his son was recently released from prison and was living with him at the Durant Sugarloaf Apartments while getting back on his feet. A blood trail led Tirrell Acevedo from the family’s apartment to the parking lot, where he discovered Ward’s body surrounded by police and crime scene tape.
Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC
Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC
“When I ran up I was like, ‘That’s my son! That’s my son! Let me just see him,’” Acevedo told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution from the shooting scene. “I was like, ‘Why were you guys not resuscitating him or anything?’ But I knew.”
Acevedo said Ward returned home in January after a two-year stint behind bars. He had landed a good job, recently bought a car and was trying to turn his life around, his father said.
Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC
Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC
Quarles, who is from Memphis, was taken to a hospital after the shooting. It was not clear when the 17-year-old was released from the hospital, or when police identified him as a suspect in Ward’s death. A motive behind the shooting was not disclosed.
Quarles and the two other teenagers were arrested on felony murder charges with help from the U.S. Marshals Office in Atlanta, according to marshals in Tennessee. Quarles was being held in Shelby County on Thursday.
All three suspects were expected to be extradited to Gwinnett County to face their charges.
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