The 12-year-old boy found dead in his DeKalb County apartment was a victim of homicide, police said Thursday.
Nicolas Aleman died as the result of ligature asphyxiation, DeKalb County police spokeswoman Mekka Parish said. Police have not identified a suspect in the strangulation death, Parish said.
Nicolas' body was found Tuesday afternoon by his mother inside a unit at the Highland Knoll apartment complex, located at 3699 Buford Highway, police said.
Emergency officials responded to a call reporting a person down, possibly suffering from cardiac arrest, Officer Jason Gagnon told the AJC on Tuesday night.
"EMS personnel called our detectives after they noticed a few things that didn't look right," Gagnon told the AJC.
Nicolas was a sixth grader at Sequoyah Middle School, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Anyone with information in this case is asked to call the DeKalb police department's Major Felony Unit at 770-724-7850.
