DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — DeKalb County police are crediting a spirit of never giving up with the arrest of the suspect in a murder that could have easily become a cold case after years with no concrete answers.
On Friday, police arrested 34-year-old Donald Ash for the murder of Vanessa "Honey" Malone. Malone was shot to death on Oct. 23, 2012, as she entered a friend's apartment in the Stone Mountain area.
"The DeKalb County Police Department is extremely gratified to bring some small amount of closure to the Malone family," Sgt. Lynn Schuler said. "We hope they can have some peace with this."
In addition to aggressively following the case through the years, the department said extensive detective work helped uncover new evidence that allowed them to bring Ash into custody.
"Our homicide detectives have spent hundreds of hours investigating this crime and have never given up chasing every lead that has been presented," Schuler said.
He said that in the years since the murder, leads have taken his office all over the Southeast. But he also said that they followed each one.
"That has helped in bringing us to this conclusion," Schuler said.
Schuler also thanked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for processing evidence as they've found it and the DeKalb County district attorney's office for helping make an arrest possible by working closely with them.
He said that reviewing old case files and looking at new evidence analyzed by the GBI helped bring the arrest to be. However, he also said keeping cases in the spotlight is also important to help remind people who may have forgotten and many have helpful information.
However, even now, the investigation continues as Schuler said multiple people are believed to be responsible for the crime.
"We believe more arrests will follow," he said.
Chief Mirtha Ramos said that the arrest exemplifies the hard work so many in the DeKalb County Police Department investigations division do every day.
"Obviously, we may not have this level of success every day, but the work that is being put into each and every case is the same."
"No family is ever forgotten," Ramos said.
Anyone with information about the crime or any of the suspects should contact Sgt. Schuler's office at 770-724-7850.
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