With a suspect in one murder set to return to Atlanta, police hope residents in the city’s Glenrose Heights neighborhood can provide more information on the Aug. 19 shooting death of Julian Jones, July double-homicide victims, and one killing that's gone unsolved since December.
Former NBA star Javaris Crittenton waived extradition in Los Angeles on Wednesday and could be brought back to Atlanta to face accusations that he killed Jones as early as this weekend, police said.
But police awaiting Crittenton’s return descended Wednesday afternoon on the southeast Atlanta neighborhood where he allegedly killed Jones in a drive-by shooting, within a mile of where John Smith Jr. and Brandon Atkins were killed July 30.
Between 40 and 50 officers with the Atlanta Police Department canvassed homes in the neighborhood of homes and apartments near Macon Drive and Mount Zion Road, south of Cleveland Avenue and east of I-75.
“This is generally what we do after a homicide,” police homicide unit commander Lt. Paul Guerrucci told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We’ll brief on the scene and go door-to-door looking for more witnesses.”
Four civilian community members from different neighborhoods joined police. Glenrose Heights community chair LaToya Johnson said the string of violence has residents in the community on edge.
"For them, this is startling," Johnson told the AJC early Wednesday evening. "Something like this will help them realize they can speak up and it'll be OK."
She walked door-to-door with a homicide detective, passing out fliers asking residents to tell them anything they might have seen, heard or remember from the three separate incidents.
Each flier had pictures of the victims and announced rewards of up to $2,000 from Crime Stoppers Atlanta for information leading to arrests or convictions in each of the cases.
Jasz Michelle, who says she grew up with Jones, said members of the close-knit neighborhood are disturbed by the change that's come over the community in recent years. She said police need to show a consistent presence to exact any kind of change, however.
"It's going to help to slow things down for the moment," Michelle said of Wednesday's police canvass. "But it's going to take a lot for police to keep it that way."
Police say Jones, 22, was talking with several acquaintances outside her home when she was fatally struck by wayward gunfire the former Georgia Tech basketball star intended for someone else.
The FBI served an arrest warrant for Crittenton on Monday, and before a federal judge in Los Angeles on Wednesday, he waived an extradition hearing that would have made it more difficult for police to bring him back to Atlanta.
Crittenton was in court in Los Angeles on charges of evading prosecution.
Guerrucci said investigators still wanted to know more about what happened.
“It’s like any other homicide,” Guerrucci said. “We’re never satisfied.”
However, three other killings under investigation are more perplexing, police say.
On July 30, in the same neighborhood where Jones was killed, Smith, 36, and Atkins, 25, were both shot during an apparent home invasion at a house in the 3000 block of Waters Road.
“It’s not really clear what the motive was,” Guerrucci said. “There are too many unknowns.”
And on Dec. 20, police say Aaron Wright was waiting for the bus to take him to one of his two jobs when he was fatally shot near the intersection of Empire Boulevard and Mount Zion.
"This has all put the community on alert," Johnson said.
Police began implementing the tactical canvasses when Guerrucci took command of the homicide division last year.
He said the events provide police a three-pronged strategy in their crime-fighting efforts.
“First, we do hope to obtain information directly related to the homicides,” Guerrucci said.
He also pointed out that often these canvasses can create a sort of temporary no-crime zone in areas that may otherwise see a lot of crime.
“That criminal activity will decrease while we’re there,” Guerrucci said. "And it gives officers a chance to get information on other crimes.”
Finally, he said the tactical canvasses help build a better relationship between police and the community.
“It gives the community an opportunity to see how police work is done,” he said. “And as far as the criminal element, it sends a message that we will come out in force to investigate a crime.”
The canvass started Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. and lasted two hours. It was unclear at the end of the canvass how much useful information police had collected.
Anyone with information on any of these cases is asked to call Atlanta Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8477.
--The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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