A Lithonia man has been charged in the February shooting death of a 64-year-old woman as she slept in a Gwinnett County extended-stay hotel, police announced Tuesday.

Officers found Christine Walker dead inside her room at the InTown Suites on Stone Mountain Highway on Feb. 22. Multiple rounds were fired into her room, and she was hit and killed by at least one of the bullets.

Police obtained warrants last month for Tyree Simmons, 24, who was already in custody at the Gwinnett County Detention Center on an unrelated charge, police said.

In connection with Walker’s death, Simmons is charged with malice murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Police said they do not believe Walker was the intended target of the shooting.

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Austin Walters died from an overdose in 2021 after taking a Xanax pill laced with fentanyl, his father said. A new law named after Austin and aimed at preventing deaths from fentanyl has resulted in its first convictions in Georgia, prosecutors said. (Family photo)

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