Four men and a woman have been arrested on murder charges following a Coweta County home invasion that claimed the life of a 14-year-old girl, investigators said Friday.
Haley Adams found a place to hide Feb. 11 when four people stormed into her home on Bethehem Church Road and restrained her mother, authorities said. The group was looking for the owner of the home who was not there at the time, Coweta County Sheriff Lenn Wood said Friday afternoon.
RELATED: 'Very senseless': 14-year-old girl shot, killed after suspects storm home
Adams came out of hiding minutes after the four returned to their vehicle, the sheriff said. She was shot when she went to the front door holding a BB gun, though she never fired any pellets.
“One of the four offenders fired multiple rounds, striking Haley, which caused her paralysis then death,” investigators said.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
The 14-year-old had moved in with her mother about a week before she was shot and killed, Wood said. She previously lived with her grandparents in Macon, according to Channel 2 Action News.
Days after Adams’ death, investigators issued a lookout for one of the suspects, William “Billy” Tyree. The 32-year-old with suspected ties to the Ghost Face Gangsters was picked up in Polk County on a probation violation charge, authorities said. Tyree was considered a person of interest in the deadly home invasion at the time of his arrest.
On Friday, the sheriff confirmed Tyree is the homeowner’s stepbrother, though it’s unclear exactly what the suspects were looking for when they entered the house.
“We haven’t been able to prove what the reason for the home invasion was other than they were looking for him,” Wood said. “We’re still trying to figure out why (they were) targeting this one guy.”
MORE: Cops: Ghost Face Gangster questioned in connection with 14-year-old girl's death
Tyree is facing a charge of murder along with four others: Kyle Conley, 36, Justin Ramsey, 20, Spencer Wix, 27, and Aubrie Brown, 26.
Like Tyree, they are all members of the Ghost Face Gangsters, Wood said.
Credit: Coweta County Sheriff's Office / Hamilton County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Coweta County Sheriff's Office / Hamilton County Sheriff's Office
Wood praised his investigators for making the arrests, saying detectives interviewed more than 20 people since Adams’ shooting.
The Ghost Face Gangsters is one of the nearly 100 white supremacist prison gangs operating in the U.S., according to the Anti-Defamation League. The group originated in California in the 1970s, but a founding member started the Georgia group in 1998.
Additional charges are possible for all five suspects, the sheriff’s office said.
Tyree, Conley and Wix are being held without bond in the Coweta County Jail. Ramsey and Brown are in custody in Chattanooga as they await extradition to Georgia to face charges here.
— Please return to AJC.com for updates.
In other news:
About the Author
