Shooting in Walmart leaves man dead and 9-year-old girl wounded, Georgia cops say

UPDATE: Murder suspect Adrian Jelks turned himself in to police in Georgia on April 3, according to the Fayetteville Police Department.

The original story is below.

Gunshots fired inside a Walmart over Easter weekend killed one store patron and wounded a child, according to Georgia investigators.

It happened around 10 p.m. — an hour before closing — Friday, March 29, at the Walmart in the Fayette Pavilion shopping center, according to City of Fayetteville Public Safety. Fayetteville is about a 25-mile drive south from Atlanta.

A motive has not been released, but investigators say the shooting was not random. The shots were fired “inside the Walmart store entryway,” officials said.

“Tragically, 19-year-old Antavius Holton of Riverdale, GA, succumbed to injuries,” police said in a March 30 news release. “A stray bullet incidentally struck a 9-year-old female juvenile. The juvenile’s injuries have been determined to be non-life-threatening.”

The child has since been released from a hospital and is expected to make a full recovery, police said. Her identity was not provided.

Adrian Jelks, 19, was named a suspect and he faces charges of “murder and aggravated assault,” police said.

He fled the store in a vehicle that was later found abandoned, police said.

“Around 2:19 a.m. on April 3, ... Jelks was taken into custody by a Fayetteville officer without incident after turning himself in to the College Park Police Department,” officials said.

Investigators have not said if the suspect and victims knew each other.

This story was originally published April 1, 2024 at 8:30 AM with the headline "Shooting in Walmart leaves man dead and 9-year-old girl wounded, Georgia cops say."