A man accused of shooting and killing a 26-year-old in October at a home in Atlanta’s Lakewood Heights neighborhood was captured Tuesday during a downtown traffic stop.
Derrick Elliot, a 27-year-old felon who served two stints in prison, is back behind bars after officers realized he was a passenger in the stopped car and arrested him, Atlanta police announced Wednesday.
Elliot was wanted on a murder charge in the shooting of 26-year-old Kewan Cody, who was killed Oct. 13 at a home on Sawtell Avenue, police said. Officers responded about 7:15 p.m. and found Cody with multiple gunshot wounds. Paramedics tried to save him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.
During the investigation, Elliot was identified as the lone suspect in the case, police said in a news release. Authorities have not said what prompted the shooting or how the men knew each other.
According to Georgia Department of Corrections records, Elliot served about 5½ years in prison after being convicted of entering auto and theft by taking charges in Fayette County. He was behind bars from June 2014 until June 2018 before returning to prison in October 2018, online records show.
Elliot was released from Hancock State Prison in March 2020, seven months before Cody was killed. Prior to Tuesday’s arrest, Elliot had been arrested at least seven other times in Fulton County since 2012, records show. One of those arrests occurred March 6, 2020, the day he was apparently released from prison.
He is charged with murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and misdemeanor marijuana possession, according to jail records.. He also faces armed robbery, aggravated assault and weapons charges stemming from a separate incident last August.
Elliot remained at the Fulton County Jail without bond Wednesday afternoon.
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