NEWNAN, Ga. — A man was killed by his half-brother, police say, in a violent home invasion in Newnan early Thursday morning in which the suspect also tried to stab another man through a bathroom door and threatened at least two women at knifepoint.
According to Newnan Police, the harrowing attack began with Zachary Martin allegedly entering the Linden Drive home through a basement window. It ended with police finding him in the bedroom where he allegedly stabbed his sleeping brother to death, standing with two knives in hand.
Martin, police said, first came into the house through a basement window at the back of the residence, where he came upon a man sleeping. He found zip ties in a nearby tool bag and bound the man.
When he went upstairs, he came upon a woman watching TV, and then led her back into the basement at knifepoint. In that time, the man escaped from the zip ties and ran into a bathroom.
“Martin chased him and began stabbing at the bathroom door in an attempt to assault him,” a police release said.
He soon gave up and turned his attention elsewhere.
"After that, he preceded back up the stairs where his ex-girlfriend and the victim were located at," Kline said. "He crawled over his ex-girlfriend and proceeded to stab the victim twice in the back."
He then turned on the girlfriend, choking her and holding a knife to her throat, according to police.
At that point, others in the house heard her screaming and rushed in to finally end the attack.
Martin, according to police, was arrested without incident.
The brother, later identified as Sheldon Stewart, was taken to a Piedmont Newnan Hospital where he died of the injuries.
Martin, 34, faces multiple charges, including murder, kidnapping and home invasion.
Police haven't named a specific motive but did say that the victim was asleep in bed with Martin's ex-girlfriend of two years. Police said the suspect and the woman had recently broken up. He said the victim and the woman had recently entered a relationship.
"They were currently dating for about a month or two," Detective Kline said.
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