Exactly one month after a deadly double shooting outside of a “Sweet 16″ house party near Douglasville, authorities announced the arrest of a fifth suspect charged with murder.
Tahkel Marquise Beverly-Smart, 21, of Dallas, was taken into custody Saturday at the Villas at West Ridge Apartments, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said. Four others, all teenagers, have already been arrested in connection with the March 4 shooting.
In addition to two counts of murder, Beverly-Smart is facing 40 counts of participating in gang activity, nine counts each of aggravated assault and aggravated battery, and 20 counts of being a party to a crime, according to jail records.
Those charges stem from a shooting outside a house party that grew beyond the residents’ control, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported. A confrontation just up the street from the home escalated into gunfire and nine people were shot, including two teens who were killed.
When deputies arrived, they found 15-year-old Samuel Moon and 14-year-old Ajanaye Hill dead at the scene, officials said. Moon was a sophomore at Lithia Springs High School, while Hill was a freshman at Douglas County High School.
The sheriff’s office did not say how Beverly-Smart was allegedly connected to the double killing, but Sheriff Tim Pounds said the investigation remains “very active” and that he anticipates more arrests. Pounds initially offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to arrests in the case and, days later, the Douglas County Board of Commissioners doubled the reward, bringing it to $40,000.
Two other murder suspects, 17-year-old Kingston Cottman and 18-year-old Timothy Coleman, were also charged with 40 counts each of participating in criminal gang activity, according to online jail records. The remaining two suspects, 17-year-old twin brothers Chance and Chase McDowell, face only four counts each of participating in criminal gang activity and two counts each of murder.
All five remain booked into the Douglas jail without bond.
Investigators with the sheriff’s office have asked additional witnesses and anyone else with information to call 770-920-7139.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
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