AUSTELL — Police are searching for two suspects in connection to Cobb County’s first homicide of 2013.
Justin Mitchell, 23, was found dead from an apparent gunshot wound after police responded to a 911 call at 10:18 p.m. Wednesday. The caller alerted them to a shooting in a home in the 1500 block of Pine Circle between Mableton and Austell, Cobb Police spokesman Sgt. Dana Pierce said.
Pierce said Mitchell’s live-in female friend made the 911 call. While the woman was in the home along with a 3-year-old male child, neither was injured.
The woman was able to share information on the suspects but did not know their names, Pierce said. A motive in the case remains unclear.
“We believe they shared some relationship, but it’s not the normal relationship people think about,” Pierce said of the suspects and Mitchell. “There was some knowledge the people had of each other.”
Police said both suspects are black men. The first suspect is considered “dark skinned,” between 5 feet 6 and 5 feet 9 inches tall and 20 to 23 years old, Pierce said. He has a thin build and was last seen wearing a gray sweater, dark pants and a black beanie. Police said he was holding a handgun.
The other suspect is “medium skinned” and between 5 feet 4 and 5 feet 6 inches tall, Pierce said. He was last seen with a multi-colored beanie with a navy blue bandana covering his face, Pierce said. Police did not know if he was armed.
“The second individual sounds like the less involved,” Pierce said.
The suspects fled the home on foot, but Pierce said police did not know if they then got into a car.
Anyone with information on the homicide is asked to call (770) 499-3945.
While this was the first homicide detectives from Cobb’s Crimes Against Persons Unit has investigated this year, Pierce said homicide numbers in the unincorporated parts of the county dropped a bit in 2012. For the year, 16 homicides were reported, down from 20 in 2011.
Since 2009, homicide numbers have remained relatively steady, with 15 reported in 2010 and 19 in 2009, police statistics show.
Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - News, Sports, Classifieds, Businesses in Marietta, GA
Follow us on Twitter!
So let's get real on what's driving this crime wave throughout Cobb.
There was a violent car jacking in Smyrna last week & numerous armed robberies all along the Cobb Parkway corridor!!
Poverty breeds crime!
Time to address this publicly????
This is why I always have my glock ready to rock against the thugs.....