Antonio Marquavis Brown was already intoxicated when he tried to buy a bottle of vodka late Saturday morning at a Buckhead liquor store, according to an Atlanta police report.
When the store employee told Brown no, he grabbed the bottle and left the store, the report states. From there, police say, Brown is accused of walking less than half a mile to Paces West Terrace, where 77-year-old Eleanor Bowles was stabbed to death. Investigators say Brown then left the area in Bowles’ SUV.
Brown, 23, has not been charged in the alleged theft from Buckhead’s Best Wine and Spirits on Northside Parkway, but the incident is detailed in a police report released Wednesday.
When he went into the liquor store shortly before noon Saturday, Brown was already known to the employees, who believed he was homeless, the police report says.
“Mr. Brown came into the location to purchase a bottle of Absolut,” the incident report states. “When the employee denied his purchase after she saw he was already intoxicated, he grabbed the bottle and walked out of the location. The employees did try to stop Mr. Brown, but he snatched it away and was aggressive.”
Store employees provided police with surveillance footage of the incident, the report states.
Surveillance images from Bowles’ street later led investigators to Brown. Investigators have not released details about a possible motive but said Bowles may have interrupted a thief attempting to steal her Lexus SUV.
Brown is accused of stabbing Bowles in the neck, arms and hands, his arrest warrant states. Then, he left the area in her SUV, which was later found in DeKalb County.
Credit: Family photo
Credit: Family photo
Hours later, one of Bowles’ sons would find his mother’s lifeless body after arriving at her home for a holiday visit.
“I was on my way to visit her for the holidays and got to her a few hours too late,” Michael Bowles said in an emailed statement. “Finding her like that is something that will be with me forever.”
On Sunday, investigators released surveillance images of a man they called a person of interest. By Sunday night, arrest warrants had been secured for Brown, who was arrested Monday after a tipster spotted him in DeKalb.
Brown was charged with murder, aggravated battery, possession of a knife during the commission of a felony, elder abuse, and hijacking a motor vehicle, according to police. It was his latest arrest in Fulton County, according to court and police records.
Brown’s Fulton County arrest records go back to March 2019, when he was arrested on a shoplifting charge, records showed.
In January 2020, Brown was arrested on charges of carrying a concealed weapon, giving a false name and not having prescription drugs in an original container, court and jail records show. He was credited for serving 45 days in jail, ordered to complete 30 community service hours and was sentenced to 12 months on probation in February of that year, according to court records.
In August 2020, Brown was arrested on charges of simple assault and aggravated assault. The aggravated assault charge was later dropped and he was again credited for time served for the lesser charge of simple assault. Brown was released from jail on Sept. 2, 2021 after serving more than a year, records show.
On June 6, Brown was charged with disorderly conduct, according to an Atlanta police report.
“He began to yell and bang on the bathroom door, before grabbing the frying pan and hitting it against the walls,” the report states.
The city jail refused to take Brown, who had a cut on his face at the time, the police report states.
In his most recent arrest, Brown waived his first court appearance Tuesday morning and remained in the Fulton jail Wednesday.
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