Two additional suspects — both 15 years old — have been arrested in connection with last year’s shooting on the 17th Street bridge in Midtown that left two youths dead, Atlanta police said Wednesday.
That brings the arrest total to six in the November shooting that killed Zyion Charles, 12, and Cameron Jackson, 15. The names of the teenagers arrested Monday were not released due to their age, but one was taken into custody by officers and the other surrendered, police said in a news release.
All six suspects were indicted last month on 21 charges, including several counts of malice murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and violation of the state’s street gang act, court records show. The Fulton County grand jury indicted the suspects Feb. 16, but three of the six remained on the run until this month.
They were all associated with the Fast Money Killers gang, the indictment states.
On March 5, Derodney Russell was arrested in Clayton County when he was questioned for his alleged involvement in a separate vehicle theft, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Investigators previously said a group of teens and children was escorted off the Atlantic Station property Nov. 26 for unruly behavior and violation of the area’s curfew. The group moved to the 17th Street bridge nearby, where shots were fired moments later at about 8 p.m.
Zyion, a seventh grader, died at the scene. Cameron, who police said was the intended target, died days later in the hospital after he was shot and critically injured while on a scooter at the scene. Four others were injured.
Three teens, ages 15 and 16, were arrested and charged with murder soon after the shooting, which police said was gang-related. Their names were not released due to their ages.
Zyion’s mother told the Atlanta City Council public safety committee on Nov. 28 she had repeatedly tried to have her son taken into police custody for breaking into cars. The boy suffered from mental illness, she said.
“I cried out for help,” Deerica Charles told the committee. “I cried out for it. I promise y’all, I cried out for it.”
Meanwhile, Cameron was dedicated to boxing, a sport he began as a young child, his family and coach said after his death. He dreamed of competing in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, his coach said.
“I don’t know where we go from here,” said his mother, Tiffany Smith. “But Cameron was my whole world. Now I have to figure out what’s next. That was my baby boy.”
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