The killings of two 17-year-olds behind a supermarket Aug. 1 left the Roswell community heartbroken — and mystified.
Why did Natalie Henderson and Carter Davis both pull their cars behind the Publix store at 3 a.m. on a Monday? What was the connection, if any, between the two slain teens and Jeffrey Hazelwood, 20, who was later charged in their murders? What was the connection between the two teenagers themselves?
The double homicide of teenagers is unprecedented in Roswell, and the city police have been treating it like few other cases. Although investigators made an arrest within 48 hours, they have released few of the key details of the crime to the public.
That is likely to change in a Fulton County courtroom on Friday morning. There, at a probable cause hearing for Hazelwood, the state is expected to produce enough evidence to show why the case against Hazelwood should proceed to the grand jury.
Roswell police said Wednesday they’ve had little reason to release additional information.
“Based on the evidence, we knew we had the right guy,” said Roswell Detective Zachary Frommer. “We’re gonna let it go and whatever comes out in court, comes out.”
That lack of information has led to rampant speculation as people try to make sense of the deaths of the two rising seniors. Carter was to start school at River Ridge High in Woodstock that day; Natalie would have started school at Roswell High the following week.
No drugs involved, police said on Day 1
Jeffrey Andrew Hazelwood, who had just turned 20, was shirtless when police arrested him, his long dark hair a mess in the first picture police released. In the coming days, Hazelwood's odd behavior and dark past would make headlines.
The killings occurred just three days after Hazelwood snapped pictures of his girlfriend at her college graduation. Police say he followed Natalie and Carter to a Woodstock Road shopping center in the early morning hours.
But why?
Could it have been a drug sale? No, police said. Roswell Chief Rusty Grant acknowleged that cellphones and apps were a key part of the investigation, but he didn’t say how.
Hazelwood allegedly shot both Natalie and Carter in the head, then took her bank card and his jumper cables, according to police. By the time a delivery driver saw the teenagers’ bodies on the ground around 6 a.m., Hazelwood had allegedly already used the stolen ATM card.
Natalie attended nearby Roswell High School, where she was a popular student who took part in the color guard and loved to sing. She volunteered with an animal rescue group and lived on a gated cul-de-sac in a house valued at more than $600,000. Carter, who attended River Ridge in Woodstock, had recently moved to the area. An exceptional student and athlete, he hoped to play college lacrosse.
What to expect at Friday’s hearing
Probable cause hearings are important for a number of reasons, Atlanta criminal defense attorney Don Samuel said.
Practically speaking, he said, a probable cause hearing is extremely important to defense lawyers because it gives them an initial opportunity to learn as much as possible about the prosecution’s case.
“It’s a means by which you can prepare your defense,” Samuel said. Then, referring to Hazelwood’s lawyer, he added, “I’m sure he’ll be doing everything he can to use it to his benefit.”
Such hearings also ensure there is some judicial oversight of arrests made by law enforcement. If the hearing is not held in a timely fashion, someone who had been charged and jailed could wait months before an opportunity to present his or her case before a judge, Samuel said.
For this reason, they can be extremely important because they can be used to show that the prosecution charged the wrong person with a crime. “In some instances, it’s the end of a case,” Samuel said.
‘Maybe it’s just two teenagers meeting’
Seventeen days after the murders, there is no outward sign at the King Plaza Publix store that two murders occurred there. The area behind the store, where the shootings took place, has nothing to mark the passing of the two teenagers.
Out in front of the store Wednesday morning, Michael Delaney, a 30-year resident of Roswell, spoke to the AJC as he was putting his purchases into his car. He recalled driving to the store to go shopping at 8 a.m. the morning of the killings, and seeing police cars all over the place. Like many in the community, Delaney knows the whole story has not come out and wonders why.
“I don’t understand why they’re keeping certain information from the public,” he said. “Maybe it was just two teenagers meeting … unless there’s more behind this than what is being made public. Maybe it’s something the police can’t release right now.”
As at the supermarket, there appears to be no external sign acknowledging the killings at Roswell High School. Minivans in the parking lot Wednesday had SEN17OR painted on the rear windows.
With a lack of information released in the case, some have done their own detective work by combing social media, including Hazelwood’s Instagram page. Many pictures and posts include his girlfriend, who graduated from Kennesaw State University on July 29 with a history degree.
The girlfriend had taken Hazelwood along for a walking tour of Atlanta in the spring, part of a field trip for an architecture class, according to a classmate. Hazelwood seemed strange, the classmate said — aloof and yet possessive of the young woman, keeping his arms around her for the two-hour tour. Classmates later recognized Hazelwood as the suspect in the Roswell killings.
Hazelwood is scheduled to be in Judge Karen Woodson’s courtroom at 9:30 a.m. Friday.
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