A Cobb County grand jury has indicted a 51-year-old man accused of shooting and killing a woman inside a Marietta restaurant, according to the district attorney’s office.
Jose Ramon Lemus, also known as Jose Lemus-Maldonado, was arrested and charged with murder after the Dec. 6 shooting at the El Ranchero restaurant on Cobb Parkway. The shooting prompted two nearby universities to issue shelter-in-place alerts.
According to Marietta police, multiple witnesses called 911 to report the shooting just before 2:30 p.m. Officers found 43-year-old Janice Ross of Atlanta on the floor of the restaurant with a gunshot wound to her neck, Officer Chuck McPhilamy said after the shooting. Ross died at the scene.
Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office
Lemus, who lived in Duluth, then ran out of the restaurant and into the woods behind the building, witnesses told investigators. Marietta police developed a description of the gunman and sent it to surrounding agencies. Both Kennesaw State and Life universities sent out campus alerts during the search for Lemus.
Police K-9 Jacquo found the suspect behind the baseball field on KSU’s Marietta campus, McPhilamy said. He was hiding in thick brush and was “not visible to approaching officers,” he said.
Lemus was initially charged with malice murder, according to police. On Thursday, the grand jury indicted him on charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He remained Friday in the Cobb jail, where he has been held without bond since his arrest.
Lemus, a native of Honduras, was also being held on a possible immigration violation, jail records show.
The grand jury this week also indicted a suspect in a separate deadly shooting in December.
Justin Derome Harris is accused of firing several shots at two people at a Cumberland Parkway address, his arrest warrant states. Harris was 15 at the time of his arrest and charged as an adult.
On Thursday, he was indicted on charges including two counts each of felony murder and aggravated assault, criminal attempt to commit a felony and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, his indictment states.
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