WINDER, Ga. — An arrest was made in connection to a double homicide of a couple in their Winder home on March 5, according to a release from the police department.
Police said the 25-year-old man was initially arrested in Missouri on March 14 for driving the car that was stolen from one of the victims - Marcus Gardner, 29.
Investigators added that Gardner and the 25-year-old man knew each other and were both from Missouri. The man lived with Gardner and his fiancée, 30-year-old Christina Smith, for many weeks before they were killed, the release said.
Winder police said they also figured out the 25-year-old left the two victims' home in Winder at the time of the murders in Garder's Ford Escape, returning to Missouri.
A detective from Winder and a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent went up to Missouri when the 25-year-old was arrested to conduct the investigation.
They charged the 25-year-old man on March 18 with the following, according to a release:
- Two counts of murder
- Two counts of felony murder
- One count, possessing a firearm during the commission of a crime
Police said they transported him back to Georgia, and the 25-year-old is in custody at the Barrow County Detention Center pending prosecution.
Gardner and Smith were found fatally shot inside their Winder home on March 5, and their car was missing, police reported.
No one had heard or seen from them for two days.
A vigil was held on March 9 to remember the couple that was to be married soon.
Family and friends lit candles in a gazebo in downtown Winder.
"We've got to bring awareness to the unnecessary violence that we're having right now," Christina's cousin said at the vigil.
The family said it was Smith's birthday, the day the couple was found dead.