ATLANTA — Atlanta Police gave an update on two unsolved homicides approaching the one-year mark Wednesday. In both cases, suspects are still on the run, and authorities are looking for leads.
One of the homicides is the shooting death of a 54-year-old community member and volunteer outside Manuel's Tavern on North Highland Ave on October 27, 2022. The reward has been increased to $25,000 to find Dean Phillips' killer.
Phillips was shot and killed in the parking lot behind the bar, police said, when he attempted to stop someone from breaking into cars.
Police released a person of interest photo, which can be viewed below, a month after the shooting happened.
Phillips was a volunteer at the Stewart Foundation– a youth program that works with children and teens to develop communication, organization and leadership skills.
A teen whom Phillips used to mentor at the program previously said he couldn't understand how the man he looked up to for so many years was gone.
Police also gave new details in the case of the shooting death of Ned Jackson.
On Wednesday, police said the suspect accused of killing Jackson went on an alleged shooting spree all over the city before the murder.
Detective Summer Benton said he first started to shoot at someone's car coming off of Highland Avenue onto Ponce De Leon Avenue. Authorities said he did not hurt the driver, but damaged the car.
An hour later, the suspect allegedly went to a gas station on North Avenue and tried to shoot another person when his gun jammed, police said at the news conference. Another hour went by and he tried to "run down" a third person on Boulevard and reportedly shot at them, but missed again.
The detective said that out of frustration, he reportedly shot and killed Jackson, who was just sleeping on the street.
"He was an innocent man doing absolutely nothing to no one," said Benton.
Jackson was shot in the head the same day Phillips lost his life. The deadly shooting that took Jackson's life happened in a residential area just a quarter of a mile from Ponce City Market at 657 Boulevard Northeast.
The suspected killer in Jackson's murder is still on the run, according to police.
APD said the suspect was seen on surveillance video driving a white Mercedes and wearing a gray Nike hoodie and black sweatpants, see a photo below for reference.
In May of this year, police increased the reward to $5,000 for information that led to the suspect's arrest in the case.
These homicides appear to be separate incidents and not connected.
After the news conference, police held a tactical canvas at Poncey-Highland Park at North Ave and John Lewis Freedom Parkway to "assist with investigation efforts to gather additional leads."
Anyone with information on these two cases can submit a tip anonymously to the Crime Stoppers Atlanta tip line at 404-577-TIPS (8477), online www.crimestoppersatlanta.org or by texting CSA and the tip to CRIMES (274637).