A woman and her two sons have been charged with murder following Wednesday's shootings in DeKalb County that left a 13-year-old dead and a 16-year-old critically injured.
Police say they're looking for another of the woman's sons, a 16-year-old believed to have fired the fatal shots.
The shootings occurred around 2 p.m. in the 2700 block of McAfee Road, off Candler Road near Decatur. Two groups of people who had an ongoing dispute were walking in opposite directions on McAfee Road when words were exchanged, followed by an argument, police said.
The gunshots were fired from one the groups, police spokeswoman Mekka Parish said.
Police identified the 13-year-old victim as Jernard Wheeler.
The 16-year-old victim remained in critical condition Thursday, Parish said. He was not identified.
Wednesday night, Viola Goodman, 52, and her sons, Shontonious Hawkins, 25, and James Fanning, 20, were arrested after police executed a search warrant on a Willa Way home. They're charged with murder and aggravated assault, and being held without bond.
Parish said police have obtained arrest warrants for the 16-year-old son. That suspect remains at large.
LARRY HARTSTEIN AND ALEXIS STEVENS
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The U.S. Department of Justice this week declined to seek the death penalty against two alleged members of the MS-13 gang who were indicted last year on federal racketeering charges, lawyers said Wednesday.
The Justice Department had deemed Miguel Alvarado-Linares, also known as "Joker," and Ernesto Escobar, known as "Pink Panther," eligible for the death penalty. But after a review, the agency declined to pursue it, federal defender Jeff Ertel, who represents Alvarado-Linares, and Escobar's lawyer, Michael Trost, said. The indictment accuses 26 alleged MS-13 members of violence in Gwinnett and DeKalb counties, including seven slayings dating back to October 2006.
"They made the right choice," Ertel said of the decision. All federal death-penalty prosecutions must be approved by the U.S. attorney general, he noted.
MS-13, a street gang whose credo is “rape, kill, control.” has its origins in Los Angeles. Known for a ruthless, twisted version of camaraderie and earned respect, MS-13 is one of the nation’s fastest-growing street gangs, with hybrid versions metastasizing across the county to suburban regions like Tucker, Norcross and Lawrenceville. Their criminal enterprise, it appears, revolves around projecting an aura of the gang, not making money. BILL RANKIN
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