A Duluth woman was killed Thursday night in a double shooting at a Gwinnett County hotel, police said.

Police arrested James Clay, 24, of Duluth, charging him with murder, aggravated assault, carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Rashanda Patterson, 36, died at the scene from a gunshot wound to her head, and 36-year-old Joseph Emener, also of Duluth, was taken to a nearby hospital with a non-life-threatening injury, police said.

Police were called to the Suburban Extended Stay Hotel at 2350 Stephens Center Drive on Thursday around 10 p.m., for a report of shots fired.

Officers arrived to find Patterson and Emener, each with single gunshot wounds.

Police said they later found Clay, 24, walking through a nearby apartment complex carrying a firearm and arrested him.

Investigators are working to determine a motive for the shooting.

Clay remains in the Gwinnett County jail without bond.

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Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

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