Police arrest suspect, another on the run in murder of grandmother
ATLANTA - Atlanta Police arrested one person and identified another Wednesday in connection to the murder of an Atlanta grandmother in August.
Atlanta Police secured an arrest warrant for 18-year-old Khalid Bays as a suspect in the murder of 49-year-old Beverly Jenkins. Jenkins died on Aug. 12 when a bullet struck her in the head as she drove home from a shift at the City of Refuge where she worked helping homeless mothers. A witness saw her car run off the road near the intersection of Hopkins Street and Westview Drive. Officers found Jenkins’ body in the minivan when they arrived.
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Police said nearby surveillance video caught four men in the area following the incident. Investigators said they have identified them all and arrested 17-year-old Adarius Jones Wednesday morning.
“There was a carjacking that took place at 1685 Ralph David Abernathy during that carjacking the victim was shot twice those shell casings were turned into our evidence lab and were rapidly connected to the Beverly Jenkins homicide,” said Major Michael O'Connor, Atlanta Police Department.
Major O’Connor said during a news conference Wednesday police caught up to the car involved in that carjacking. They were able to take one person into custody, but a second person in the car got away.
“Yesterday we got lucky and the car was found by Zone One patrol units attempted to stop that vehicle, when they blue-lighted the vehicle a chase ensued during the course of that chase the suspect vehicle wrecked at Maddox Park at the basketball court...actually made it all the way up to the basketball court went straight through the fence. Both guys take off running. We were able to secure one of the people in the vehicle and then one of the suspects was able to get away,” said Major O’Connor.
The major said that is how investigators identified Bays. They quickly took out a warrant and released his photo to the public.
“We do believe he's changed his hairstyle so that hair you see behind me is probably not his current hairstyle, but other than that he'll look the same,” the major said.
Atlanta Police hope to get Bays off the street quickly.
“Because of the random nature of these crimes and the extreme violence they've shown toward the victims catching him is of extreme importance to the Atlanta Police Department,” the major said.
Both likely will face murder, armed robbery and host of other charges.
Police have not charged the other two people who they identified.
Police ask anyone with information on his whereabouts to call Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8447 or online at crimestoppersatlanta.org. Tipsters could be eligible for a reward of up to $2,000 for the arrest and indictment of the suspect.