From the moment the news broke, the deaths of two teenagers behind a Roswell Publix didn’t make sense.
There are shootings, often fatal, every day in metro Atlanta. Many of those involve innocent victims. Sadly, children and teenagers are sometimes involved.
But this was different. The bodies of two 17-year-olds were found on the ground at 6 a.m. Monday by a delivery driver. The two had each been shot once in the head.
What we know so far
Carter Davis was supposed to start his senior year at River Ridge High School Monday. But Natalie Henderson still had a week left before the first day back at Roswell High School for her final year. By Monday afternoon, two communities 10 miles apart in north Fulton and Cherokee counties were united in their grief, shocked by the details released by police.
On Wednesday, police arrested a 20-year-old man named Jeffrey Hazelwood and charged him with two counts of murder. The arrest was a relief to the teens’ family and friends, but it created even more unanswered questions.
What we don’t know
1. Who?
Natalie and Carter were popular students involved in activities at their schools. The relationship between the two is unclear. Police have said only that they were friends. Jeff Hazelwood, meanwhile, is for now a cipher. Did he know the teenagers he is accused of killing? Was Hazelwood, as a preliminary police report suggested, a former boyfriend of Natalie’s?
2. What?
What led Natalie and Carter to leave their homes during the night and meet at a grocery store? Were the two planning to meet Hazelwood? What was urgent enough to warrant an early morning meeting, just hours before Carter was to be at school?
3. Why?
Why would Hazelwood want to harm Natalie and Carter? Roswell police Chief Rusty Grant said investigators believe Hazelwood acted alone, but Grant refused to discuss motive in the case. Aside from saying that cellphones and messaging apps were crucial to the investigation, he also offered little information on why police suspect Hazelwood.
Also, why did police search a house in nearby East Cobb Wednesday morning, shortly after they arrested Hazelwood? They said only that they were seeking evidence in the murder case. It is not known what, if anything, they found, or why they targeted that house.
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