Clayton County police arrested two murder suspects in separate, unrelated cases in recent weeks after one was stopped for jaywalking and one was found pretending to be asleep in bed, officials said.
The first man was arrested Aug. 30 when a traffic enforcement officer noticed him allegedly jaywalking on Tara Boulevard near Dixon Road, Clayton police said. The officer stopped TraZion Brown and cautioned him about the dangers of crossing such a busy road outside of designated crosswalks.
During their conversation, the officer got Brown’s information and checked it through the Georgia Crime Information Center database. Police said the officer was alerted that Brown had bench warrants in Fulton County from his failure to appear for a court date related to a 2017 murder charge.
Brown and a co-defendant, Kentavious Patterson, were indicted in November 2017 in connection with a fatal shooting about five months earlier at a College Park apartment complex, according to court records. They are both accused of murder in the killing of Gregory Gallishaw, though Patterson was charged with firing the fatal shots.
Patterson was firing into the air when Gallishaw confronted him, Channel 2 Action News reported at the time. Gallishaw was also armed, according to the co-defendants’ indictment, and when Brown joined the confrontation, they took Gallishaw’s gun from him, resulting in armed robbery charges. Gallishaw, a father of four, was shot and killed, Channel 2 reported.
Court and jail records show no record of Brown being taken into custody prior to his arraignment or indictment. He failed to appear in court, leading to a bench warrant being issued in September 2019.
Patterson was arrested soon after the killing and ultimately pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, among other charges, court records show. He is serving a 20-year sentence in state prison.
Brown was taken into custody without incident, police said. He was transferred to the Fulton jail, where he was booked on one count of murder, two counts of felony murder, and one count each of armed robbery, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, jail records show.
“Thanks to (the officer’s) proactivity regarding traffic enforcement and pedestrian safety, officers were able to apprehend and remove a murder suspect from the community without incident or injuries,” police said in a statement.
Credit: Clayton County Police Department
Credit: Clayton County Police Department
The second arrest on murder charges happened Monday, less than two weeks later. Officers responded to a house on Paxton Place near Riverdale after getting calls about a domestic disturbance, police said.
The 911 caller, who was not present for the incident, said a man at the home had pulled a gun on family members and pistol-whipped his mother, according to police. However, a woman at the scene told officers there had been no issue.
Thanks to the detailed allegations made by the 911 caller, the officers decided to investigate further and asked to speak to everyone in the house to ensure there was really no domestic incident, police said. As they checked through the home, police said the officers found Matt Washington Jr. pretending to be asleep in a bed, fully clothed under the sheets.
Washington’s unusual sleeping arrangement led the officers to check his information in the GCIC database. Washington was flagged for a warrant out of Atlanta in connection with a Sept. 2 homicide.
Credit: Clayton County Police Department
Credit: Clayton County Police Department
According to Washington’s arrest warrant, he and another man, Marques Jenkins, were breaking into cars while armed in the parking lot of a building at 500 Bishop Street in Atlanta’s Loring Heights neighborhood. The building is home to several photography studios and businesses related to film production, including Gotham Sound, an audio-visual equipment rental agency, and Carbon Film, a video production agency.
Washington’s warrant alleges that while he and Jenkins were breaking into cars Aug. 6, three men from the building began shooting at them. Jenkins was shot multiple times, including in the head, and died from his wounds, the warrant said. The warrant charges Washington with felony murder, a count that Georgia’s legal code defines as causing the death of another person during the commission of a felony, “irrespective of malice.”
Washington was taken into custody without incident and booked into the Fulton jail on one count of murder, officials said.
According to Clayton police, investigators believe there was no domestic disturbance at the Paxton Place home and the caller was likely tipping off police in the hopes of seeing Washington apprehended.
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