A 15-year-old boy was found dead in a car at an apartment complex in southeast Atlanta early Saturday morning, police said.
According to Atlanta Police Homicide Commander Lt. Andrea Webster, just before 5 am, officers responded to a shots fired call from an apartment complex on Mount Zion Road.
When they arrived, they found a teen in the front passenger seat of a blue Dodge Charger suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office identified the teen early Sunday morning as 15-year-old Jamari Holmes. Holmes was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital in downtown Atlanta, where he was later pronounced dead.
Detectives said the Charger was stolen.
Investigators were continuing to canvass the area for witnesses well after daybreak on Saturday. Webster said investigators believe there were additional people present in the car with Holmes at the time of the shooting, but those persons have not been identified yet.
"There was potentially another vehicle involved," Webster said. "Or at least another group of people involved."
Webster says those other persons are not yet known to police.
Investigators said they are pursuing a possible gang connection because Holmes was a known gang member and was wearing an ankle monitor at the time of the shooting, due to past criminal activity.
Family gathered in Mozley Park Sunday evening to remember the teen. His mother told 11Alive her son had just turned 15 about two weeks ago, and was trying to turn his life around before he was killed.
"He loved his brothers. He loved his family," said Starrie Holmes, the teen's mother. "It's just senseless that my baby was taken away. He's a baby. He had only been 15 two weeks."
Anyone with additional information is being asked to contact Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-TIPS (8477) on online at crimestoppersatlanta.com.
Tipsters to Crime Stoppers may remain anonymous. Information leading to an arrest in the case may be eligible for a reward.
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