Atlanta police said Sunday they have charged DeMarcus Brinkley with murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping and other charges in the high-profile killing of a woman whose body was discovered Friday morning in southeast Atlanta.
Brinkley had previously been identified as a “person of interest” in the case and is in custody at Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center, where he is being treated for injuries sustained during a chase with the Georgia State Patrol.
Mariam Abdulrab, 27, a bartender at Revery VR Bar in Midtown, was returning to her home in Chosewood Park in southeast Atlanta in the early morning hours and was kidnapped outside her house at gunpoint, her friends say.
A witness called 911 around 5 a.m. Friday after seeing a woman being forced into an SUV at gunpoint, according to the Atlanta Police Department. While police were still investigating the kidnapping, another 911 call came in an hour later reporting gunfire in the area of Lakewood Avenue and Terrace Way. Investigators determined the calls were related.
A witness spotted Abdulrab’s body nearly four hours later, as police were preparing to canvass the area. According to the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office, she had been shot multiple times.
A memorial for Abulrab was growing outside Revery on Monday morning. She also sometimes worked at popular Edgewood bar Church, where manager Dillon Knight would watch Abdulrab bound through the door for her shifts, her enthusiasm effervescent and contagious. He said she was funny, quirky, disarming.
”Everyone looked forward to seeing Mariam at work, on both sides of the bar,” Knight said. “She was a hard worker with a great finesse for making people feel welcome and appreciated. She had a huge heart and would go well out of her way to help out or provide for folks.”
Like others, Knight remembered the “bright light” that seemed to radiate from Abdulrab. Knight spoke of her as a beam of light, illuminating the spirits of those she met.
Brinkley, 27, was stable Sunday, according to the Atlanta Police Department. He will be taken to the Fulton County Jail after he is released by the hospital.
Brinkley was flown to the hospital after crashing his 2013 Chevrolet Equinox into a Buick during a pursuit in Griffin, according to the Georgia State Patrol. The Buick’s driver was also flown to Atlanta Medical Center. Brinkley was taken into custody in Griffin by the Georgia State Patrol and was initially held on traffic charges, according to APD.
Other charges against Brinkley include false imprisonment, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, Atlanta police said in an update Sunday.
Abdulrab’s death put Atlanta on edge, as it came within a few weeks of the stabbing death of Katie Janness in Piedmont Park. Janness, also a bartender, was attacked at night while walking her dog. Atlanta police say they do not believe the two cases are related.
― Staff writer Joshua Sharpe contributed to this article.
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