As police try to piece together the facts of a devastating shooting, 18-year-old Dashonn Hayes is asking to be freed from the DeKalb County jail.
He is accused of murder in the death of his brother, 17-year-old Corinthian Hayes. Warrants released Wednesday allege the older brother, who has a bond hearing Jan. 3, shot the younger in the neck with a 12-gauge shotgun on Dec. 20.
Lt. Lonzy Robertson of county police said the motive is still unknown.
“The suspect and the victim were the only people in that room,” Robertson said. “The suspect didn’t provide much information.”
Channel 2 Action News said investigators were familiar with ominous posts on the suspect’s Instagram account.
On Dec. 9, a video was posted showing a man believed to be Dashonn Hayes holding the shotgun, while a person believed to be Corinthian Hayes stands behind him complaining.
“You always doing 50 million things instead of rolling the blunt,” the young man in the background says.
The man in the back then draws what looks to be a handgun. He points it at the older brother’s head briefly, though the older brother keeps staring straight into the camera and doesn’t seem to see the gun behind him.
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The older brother tells him to shut up or he’ll end up “wet,” which police believe was a threat to shoot him, Channel 2 reported.
Despite the alleged threat, the post was accompanied by a statement about family: “You only see me kixkin it wit my blood no outsiders.”
On Dec. 20, officers were called to the brothers’ apartment on Holcombe Road near I-285. They found Corinthian Hayes with no signs of life and arrested the brother.
The warrant calls the shooting intentional.
If Dashonn Hayes is granted bond, he'd join dozens of other DeKalb murder suspects who have been released from jail while awaiting trial in recent years.
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