More arrests in Sandy Springs double homicide
Sandy Springs Police have arrested three more men in connection with the September double homicide at an Abernathy Road apartment complex.
Six men have now been arrested in what investigators conclude was a drug deal gone awry, according to Sandy Springs Police spokesman Steve Rose.
It all started when Antonio V. Clark, 23, Jarrett Dixon, 27, and James Platt, 31, decided to try and steal from their dealer, from whom they had arranged to purchase two kilos of cocaine for $58,000 using counterfeit bills. But Delman Higuera-Hernandez and his associates were not fooled. A shootout erupted, and when it finished two men, Clark and Santos Palacios-Vasquez, were dead.
Higuera-Hernandez was wounded in the shooting but he managed to bury the cocaine and his weapon in a wooded area near the apartment complex. Dixon, also wounded in the shootout, escaped the apartment along with Platt and an unidentified male. Both men were eventually hospitalized, which helped police piece together the details of the gunfight.
Rose said Higuera-Hernandez's associates -- Jose Renteria-Diaz, 32, Rogelio Higuera-Gutierrez, 29, and Juan Maldanado-Cervantes, 22 -- returned to the scene several days after the shooting to recover the hidden evidence. Those three accounted for the most recent arrests, on Wednesday.
Higuera-Hernandez, Dixon and Platt were previously charged in the shootings.
Rose said investigators found one of the weapons used in the shooting at Higuera-Hernandez's apartment, along with several other stolen guns, 400 grams of methamphetamine, 100 grams of cocaine and several grams of heroin.
About the Author
A native Atlantan, Boone joined the AJC staff in 2007. He quickly carved out a niche covering crime stories, assuming the public safety beat in 2014. He's covered some of the biggest trials this decade, from Hemy Neuman to Ross Harris to Chip Olsen, the latter of which was featured on Season 7 of the AJC's award-winning "Breakdown" podcast.
