One teenager accused of hitting and killing a Gwinnett County father outside a Suwanee Walmart has been arrested, while the other suspect remains at large.
Jafar Hunter Jr., 15, surrendered to authorities Nov. 18, days after Suwanee police obtained warrants for his arrest in the Nov. 7 death of 42-year-old Christian Gutierrez. Hunter and 18-year-old Keytavius Arice Lowam were identified from surveillance photos, according to police.
Both live in the Decatur area and are known to sell bottled water in the area of Memorial and Columbia drives.
Credit: Suwanee Police Department
Credit: Suwanee Police Department
On the night he was killed, Gutierrez was Christmas shopping with his family at the Walmart on Lawrenceville Suwanee Road, Suwanee police spokesman Lt. Robert Thompson said. He was hit by a speeding U-Haul van in the parking lot and dragged about 100 yards onto Satellite Boulevard.
He was dead when emergency responders arrived shortly after 9 p.m.
According to Thompson, the teens were trying to get away in the U-Haul van after shoplifting electronics.
Shoppers told police they saw the duo fill two carts before walking past Walmart’s cash registers toward the door. When a loss prevention officer confronted them, police said they ditched the merchandise, ran into the parking lot and drove away.
The van was later located and processed for evidence, but police have not said where the vehicle was found or which teen was driving it on the night of Gutierrez’s death.
Hunter surrendered at the Gwinnett jail and is being held at a juvenile detention center on felony charges of murder and shoplifting. Authorities are still searching for Lowam, Thompson said Monday.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call the Gwinnett County sheriff’s fugitive tip line at 770-619-7838.
— Staff writer Shaddi Abusaid contributed to this article.
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