An 11-year-old girl was asleep in her bed. A teenager was spending the night with a friend. An unborn baby was still in her mother’s womb.
They are among metro Atlanta’s youngest homicide victims this year. Most metro police agencies — including those in DeKalb, Gwinnett and Cobb counties — reported their homicide rates were similar to 2022. Still, suburban Atlanta wasn’t spared from gun violence, and numerous shootings killed children and young people.
“When do we as a community say enough is enough?” lamented Adrienne Rodriguez after her daughter, Shaniyah Rodriguez, 20, was shot Feb. 2. at the Brannon Hill condominiums in the 6600 block of Singleton Lane in DeKalb County. Rodriguez, who died two days later, was eight months pregnant. Doctors delivered her baby early but Milliani Rodriguez died in June, having never left the hospital. Diamonte Oiy’Shawn Haithcoats, 22, who was Shaniyah Rodriguez’ boyfriend and Milliani’s father, faces murder charges.
In 2014, Adrienne Rodriguez’s son, Nizzear, was shot to death in Carroll County, hours after celebrating his 13th birthday.
“Most people don’t go through it once in life,” the grieving mother and grandmother told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Out of all the people in the world, how the hell do I go through it twice?”
Charles “C.J.” Brown’s family is struggling with similar pain. He was shot while spending the night at a friend’s house in Cobb County and died later that day, May 28, at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital.
“We want kids to understand that when choosing your friends, you have to choose them wisely,” said his mother, Ashley Heard. “The problem with a lot of teens today is they have too much time idle time, and that idle time just leaves space for the wrong things. I wouldn’t want any child’s parents to feel what we feel. I mean our home isn’t the same. It’s just dull and dead.”
The shooting remains under investigation, Cobb police said.
Asijah Jones, 11, was a sixth grader shot to death around 1 a.m. March 14 after bullets came through the wall of the Spalding County apartment where she and her sister were asleep.
“There were so many bullets, but only she was hit,” Angel Jones, Asijah’s sister, told the AJC. “I just heard her scream.”
Kionta Jahaun Parks was charged with felony murder, aggravated assault, cruelty to children, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, violation of the street gang act, and violation of the domestic terrorism statute, the Spalding sheriff’s office said.
Marcus Jones said he last saw his daughter a few days before she died. Asijah had ridden with him to a convenience store.
“I told her she could buy anything she wanted,” he said.
She only wanted a snack to share with her dad.
About the Author
