Third teen arrested in deadly 17th Street bridge shootings
A third teenaged suspect has been arrested in connection to a Midtown shooting that killed two youths, Atlanta police said Monday night.
On Nov. 26, shots were fired on the 17th Street bridge in Midtown, killing Zyion Charles, 12, and Cameron Jackson, 15, according to police. Police previously announced the arrests of two other suspects, ages 15 and 16. Their names were not released due to their ages.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens announced Monday evening during a press conference that a 16-year-old from Clayton County, has also been charged in the case. That suspect’s name also was not released.
All three suspects have been charged with murder, aggravated assault and gang charges, according to police. It will be up to the Fulton County District Attorney’s office to determine whether the three teens will be charged as adults.
Investigators previously said a group of teens and children was escorted off the Atlantic Station property for unruly behavior and violation of the area’s curfew. The group moved to the 17th Street bridge nearby, where shots were fired moments later at about 8 p.m.
Zyion died at the scene. Cameron died days later in the hospital after he was shot and critically injured while on a scooter at the scene. Four others were injured and released from local hospitals.
Family and friends gathered Saturday at the First Iconium Baptist Church to celebrate Zyion and call attention to rising gun violence. Parents breaking the occasional silence with sniffles all faced a bright red casket with a picture of Zyion atop.
“There’s a bitterness in death, a brevity in life,” the Rev. Ron Sailor said during the service. “He’s finished his journey, but we have not finished ours. So God, give us the strength to run on and see what the end is going to be. We are not through until 12-year-olds are no longer killed in this world.”
Near the end of the ceremony, Zyion’s mother De’Erica Charles and grandmother Sandra Durden asked the community to keep them in their thoughts.
“Hold y’all kids. I’m trying to be so strong, but my boy gone. They took my boy from me. Hold y’all kids,” De’Erica Charles said. “It hurt different, it’s a different hurt, and it hurt me real deep. My baby is gone.”
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