A man who escaped a corrections facility has been charged in a Friday evening fatal stabbing on the Beltline in northeast Atlanta, police said.
William Tyler Coleman, 27, is facing charges of murder, aggravated assault and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony. According to Atlanta police, he was wanted by the Georgia Department of Corrections for escape.
Around 8 p.m., officers were called to the 200 block of Montgomery Ferry Drive, off Monroe Drive. The victim was located with multiple stab wounds on the Beltline’s northeast trail, authorities confirmed. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
An empty shopping cart and an umbrella were found near the victim’s body. He was not publicly identified.
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
Several officers, including at least one K-9, responded to the area, which is near the Ansley Golf Club and just south of I-85.
Police did not say what led to the stabbing.
The escape happened June 22 while Coleman was being housed at the Atlanta Transitional Center on Ponce de Leon Avenue, which is nearly three miles from where the stabbing took place. He had been there since October 2021 on charges of simple battery, robbery and obstruction of law enforcement, online records show.
“ATL TC is unlike a prison in that it functions as a community-based program/work-release facility and is not secured by fencing. Coleman walked out of the facility,” GDC spokesperson Joan Heath told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
No additional information was provided by officials on Coleman’s escape.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
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