DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A teen is facing charges in connection with a deadly mall shooting that took place days before Christmas in Bloomington, Minn.
According to U.S. Marshals, 17-year-old Lavon Longstreet is accused of second-degree murder and second-degree assault charges and was arrested in Georgia.
The shooting happened at the Mall of America on Dec. 23. Longstreet was taken into custody Tuesday at a home on Kenridge Parkway in Decatur, Marshals said.
KARE 11 in Minneapolis, 11Alive's sister station reported in December that 19-year-old Johntae Hudson died in the shooting. They reported police determined a fight broke out at the mall when the gunfire occurred. A criminal complaint alleged the victim had eight gunshot wounds across his body along with three graze wounds.
Authorities in Bloomington held a news conference Tuesday evening where Chief of Police Booker Hodges also announced the arrest. He mentioned two other people were taken into custody with Longstreet; a 30-year-old woman is accused of aiding an offender and a 31-year-old man was arrested for an assault warrant out of Georgia.
Longstreet's mother, Hodges said, is also facing charges.
"In Golden Valley [Minnesota] we arrested Erica McMillian who is Mr. Longstreet's mother," he said. "And I said anybody that helps him is going to get locked up."
Hodges claims Longstreet's mom drove her son out of state on Christmas Eve. She's facing an aiding and abetting charge.
"Your son kills somebody and you drive them to Georgia," he said. "If someone had murdered her son, I guarantee you she would feel differently. So she was arrested today."
Other arrests were previously made in the case and Hodges expects more could come.
As for the Georgia apprehension, U.S. Marshals, the Fulton County Sheriff's Office, the Bloomington Police Department in Minn., and the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office worked in conjunction to make the arrest. The suspect will remain in custody in Georgia until extradition takes place.
Hodges had a message for young people as it relates to criminal activity: "You are better than this."
"I don't want to have to hand out orange jumpsuits, I want you to get high school graduation gowns," he said.