Two years after the murder of 20-year-old Keng Wilson in Decatur, the DeKalb County District Attorney’s office has released photos of two unidentified suspects involved in the shooting that took his life. The move is part of a larger push by investigators to identify and arrest the two shooters.
A third alleged shooter, Joshua Ontario Simpson, 26, was arrested and charged with malice murder in 2021, but the other two shooters have eluded investigators.
Wilson’s mother is urging people with any knowledge of the shooting to come forward.
“Have a heart,” Scott said. “Understand it could have been one of your family members. They could be dead. Things like this aren’t gonna stop until we start speaking about it. You don’t protect these types of people. You don’t cover for them.”
On July 8, 2021, Wilson was filling his car at a gas station on Rockbridge Road between Hambrick Road and Dixie Lee Lane. The aspiring chef was planning to move from the metro area to Virginia with his family in four days. But, a late night stop for gas led to a skirmish and three men opening gunfire on him. Surveillance footage shows him arguing with Simpson before Simpson and the two unidentified shooters opened fire, striking Wilson multiple times and eventually killing him.
“Right now, we don’t have any more leads on this,” said Jacques Spencer, supervising investigator of the homicide and gang unit for the DeKalb County District Attorney’s office. “We’re releasing this video because it’s the public that frequents this area. They’re the individuals that go to this gas station most often. They can help.”
Spencer declined to comment on the nature of the dispute, any potential motives, or answer whether the dispute was related to any other organizations or crimes while the investigation is ongoing.
Family was central for Wilson, who was studying to become a chef at Atlanta Tech, his mother said. He was the oldest of four children and helped raise his younger siblings. His birthday, December 29, came within a week of his youngest sister’s birthday. Instead of throwing himself a birthday party or meeting up with friends, Wilson would always spend the day with her, his mother said.
The youngster four when Wilson was killed.
“Family was the most important thing in the world to him,” she said. “He didn’t care about the material world. He was his siblings’ best friend. He was actually their father figure.”
Scott said Wilson also loved art and poetry. He had a talent for drawing and painting, she said, and won a poetry contest for his poem “Strange Fruit,” about American racism, in 2015. He was nervous to read his poem out loud at the Stone Mountain Museum, Scott said he found his courage after seeing his close family and his cousins all cheering in the crowd.
Still, Scott said, Wilson’s achievements are not what she misses most about him. Instead, she misses his love for family, his smile and his laugh.
“I’ll always remember his laugh,” Scott said. “He had a funny laugh. He laughed like Eddie Murphy, but it was a real weird kind of laugh.”
Anyone with information on the suspects can contact the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office Tip Line at 404-371-2444.
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