ATLANTA — The man accused of shooting and killing a 6-month-old baby in northwest Atlanta waived his first appearance Wednesday.
DeQuaise Little, 22, is being held at the Fulton County jail facing charges of murder and aggravated assault.
Investigators said 6-month-old Grayson Fleming was killed when a stray bullet hit him as he rode in a car not far from Anderson Park in broad daylight Monday afternoon. Atlanta Police credit surveillance cameras to the quick arrest.
“It really is a game-changer," Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant said.
Bryant said the real key is private surveillance cameras.
He said having access to private security cameras helps investigators save time and let's them move through evidence at a quicker pace.
"Ultimately, that's what the community wants," Bryant said.
Surveillance video footage helped officers arrest Little less than 24 hours after Fleming was shot and killed, authorities said.
Bryant said making an arrest isn't just because of law enforcement efforts, adding that he hopes more members of the community could help police have access to valuable clues.
“Then the community gets to be a part of this by giving us information that many of them want us to have, and we want to be clear, this isn't us peering into their system," Bryant said. "This is them giving us the ability to do so at their will.”
People can register their private surveillance cameras with the city and police will then contact them to get the footage if a crime happens in the area.
It’s a system they’ve had in place for years with residents now helping them expand the areas covered by cameras.
“We also have all of the GDOT cameras incorporated into the system, as well as all of the cameras the City of Atlanta has been running through the Operation Shield network program for some time, and that’s a little over 1,000 cameras," Atlanta Police Deputy Chief Michael O'Connor said.
Atlanta Police hope to have many more areas covered within the year.
“We roughly anticipate that within a year’s time we could successfully see 25,000 private integrations in this system," O'Connor said.
Bryant said more cameras mean more possibilities to solve crimes.
“It gives us the ability to have situational awareness as well, especially when incidents occur at those locations," Bryant said. "We can now get eyes on them much more rapidly than waiting on the police officers to respond. We can now have our people look at it from wherever they are.”