Clayton News Daily

By Justin Boron

Three people are charged with murder and armed robbery after a Forest Park resident was found shot early Sunday morning in his apartment at the Parkside Crossing complex on Jonesboro Road.

Brittney Grooms, 19, and Rashad Cunningham, 18, appeared in court later in the day and were denied bond.

The third suspect is a female juvenile being held at the Clayton County Regional Youth Detention Center, said Forest Park Police Capt. Chris Matson.

He could not provide her age.

The Hispanic male victim's name is not being disclosed until relatives are notified.

Police say when they arrived on the scene at 1:15 a.m., officers followed screams to an apartment to find the victim unconscious and bleeding. Forest Park Rescue transported the victim to Southern Regional Hospital, where he died from the gunshot wound.

The suspects were apprehended near the apartment complex shortly after police arrived, Matson said.

The shooting highlighted the need for the police office planned for inside the apartment complex, which Forest Park police were in the process of implementing before the shooting, said Madreanna Gipson, 28, a resident above the apartment where the incident occurred.

She said she had not felt safe in the apartment complex since she moved in with her four children.

Drive-by shooting outside Golden Corral

In an unrelated shooting, police say a verbal altercation Sunday afternoon led to a drive-by shooting on Tara Boulevard in front of the Golden Corral.

Barwin Felipes, 18, fired a single round into the Honda Civic of 22-year-old Phasavath Ketmany, who had exchanged words with the occupants of a Geo Prism, said Clayton County Police Capt. Jeff Turner.

There were six occupants in the Geo Prism, but only Felipes and the driver, Jose Villalva, 17, were charged with aggravated assault, he said.

No injuries were reported, Turner said.