Four months after 20-year-old Fantasia Byrd was killed, Roswell police say they've made major progress in the investigation.
"We're very optimistic," Lt. James McGee said. "We have good evidence in the case, and we're going to do a little more to make sure we have all the evidence we need. We're very optimistic an arrest will be made."
Byrd was not the target when gunmen opened fire from the Chattahoochee Landing parking lot around 3 a.m. on Sept. 6, firing at least 20 rounds into the apartment where Byrd was socializing with friends.
Police believe the suspects were retaliating against one or more of Byrd's friends, who got involved in a fight earlier that night at a Roswell Road pool hall. Byrd was struck in the head by a bullet that pierced the front window. No one else was hit.
Officers found .40-caliber and 9mm casings in and around the apartment.
McGee said investigators have "a suspect or suspects they're looking at."
At the time of her death, Byrd was visiting a cousin who lived in Chattahoochee Landing.
Byrd grew up in Yonkers, N.Y., and was a class president at Gorton High School, where she won a prestigious Service Award. She graduated from community college and moved to metro Atlanta less than two weeks before her death. Byrd was living with her dad in Dacula and working at Oilily at Phipps Plaza.
"Everything was going really positive for her," her uncle, Jerry Williams, told the AJC in September. "She was a bright, articulate young lady. She had so many dreams and goals."
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