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Murderous Crime Spree in DeKalb County was an Escalating Horror Show: A Man was Shot to Death, Michael Phillips, May 3 rd. by Party Crashers. Then, last weekend, a young woman, Alexis Malone, who Witnessed that Shooting was Beaten with a Brick, Fatally Shot and Dumped off a Lonely Road. Hours later, police say, Friends of Hers Kicked in the Back Door of the Killers’ family home and Shot 3 Women and a Baby as they Hid in a Bathroom. The 9-month-old boy, Kendarius Edwards, Died.
Not far away, while police were still dealing with one of those crime scenes, a car stalked another vehicle. Occupants fired into a Ford Taurus loaded with 5 people, Killing 2 and Wounding 2 in an Unrelated Incident.
All the Crimes have the Ear-Markings of Gang Violence - Planned and Meant to Send a Message.
In a county that has wrestled with accusations of political corruption, a troubled school system and cratering
property values, the Lawlessness is another gut punch. It gives justification for what residents have said for years, most recently in a survey conducted by the South DeKalb Improvement Association: We feel unsafe.
Police are not saying if the Witness Killing and Home Invasion are Gang-Related, but they said the drive-by almost certainly is. Many worry Gang activity is on the rise. YOU THINK ..
“It’s not hyperbole to say we have a gang problem in DeKalb County,” said District Attorney Robert James. “It’s just a reality based on the number of gang crimes that we have prosecuted. At one point, we had prosecuted more people under the gang act (statute) than any other prosecutor in the state.”
Numbers provided by James, who became district attorney in 2010, show the office has prosecuted at least 150 gang crimes and more than 350 alleged gang members in the past four-plus years. The first time he sought the death penalty was against three men who allegedly beat a man to death as an Initiation to the " Bloods. " The Victim’s Body was so Badly Mutilated that Paramedics Couldn’t Determine his Sex or Race. ( SICK ARSE ANIMALS )
James said the recent brutality has 2 destructive results. First, the crimes “upset the fabric of the entire justice system. Witnesses have to Feel Safe to get them to Cooperate. If they don’t, Our System Breaks Down.”
That’s already happening. A DeKalb Officer canvassing the neighborhood off Redan Road where the baby was killed complained privately about the residents being “tight lipped.”
The second impact from the crimes, James said, is they “really bring down the quality of life in neighborhoods. People can’t afford to move and are Held Hostage in these Communities.”
“It has a tremendous embarrassing impact,” George said. “DeKalb has had so much happen that puts us in a category where we don’t want to be.”
George, who is retired from Greyhound, has lived for 26 years in a well-tended subdivision about three miles south of the home invasion. He said foreclosures, perception of crime and problems with the schools have taken a toll. His home was once worth $150,000, but is appraised at $43,000, he said. He has wanted to move for a while but selling now would take a financial bath. So he stays.
The three-bedroom home on To Lani Farm Road, where the home invasion occurred, was assessed this year by DeKalb at $18,500. Five years ago, it was $88,000. Neighbors Complain about Crime, Mostly Burglaries, although one said there was a shooting in the subdivision months ago.
Some in the Neighborhood said One of the Teenagers who lived in the Home, Cutrez Johnson, has been a Thug who has Broken into Homes and been Confrontational with Residents. The 16- year-old, known as “Lil Red,” is accused in the March 3 death of Michael Phillips, 29, who was shot at a party on North Hairston Road, and the May 10 killing of Alexis Malone, 17, who was a witness.
// Gang // NSG // No Sleep Gang //
// BUNCH OF SAVAGE THUGS //
Authorities say Kayla Dixon, 20, lured Malone to a park knowing she would be killed by Johnson; his brother, Oslushla Smith, 19, also known as Budda or Boo; and Kemontay Cullins, 18. They were all friends, but some were worried Malone would talk. She didn’t, an official said. Still police received an anonymous call Saturday about 6 p.m. telling them of a body on Agape Way, a normally quiet road that parallels I-285. It was Malone’s battered remains.
MURDERED BY JOHNSON @ CO.
About an hour later and a couple of miles inside I-285, five people were coming back from dinner at South DeKalb Mall when a car rushed from behind and an occupant opened fire. The victims’ vehicle came to rest on a lawn. Inside, one man was dead from a shot to the head and another man, Antwan Wheeler, was dying.
Wheeler was in the news last year when he sued DeKalb police for beating him up and lying in court to convict him of a 2010 car theft. He was placed in a juvenile facility for two years. The diminutive Wheeler was 15 at the time of the arrest but had a rap sheet going back to when he was 11. Police, he complained last year, constantly harassed him because of his record.
Wheeler was an alleged member of Savage the Block, a loose network of teen-age burglars. His lawyer, Mike Puglise, said police told him the teenager was killed because “a rival gang was targeting him over a prior beef.” He hears it was over a girl.
Puglise said his client took steps to get his life in order, but “my big fear was he would get in trouble again. He would be with a bunch of kids and they would get picked up.”
The investigation into Wheeler’s allegation of abuse exposed police officers in south DeKalb who were resorting to vigilante beatings to punish juvenile gang members because they felt the young teens got away with lax punishment in court. Several officers were fired or indicted.
“Street justice is not a fix,” said Puglise. “It makes it worse. And that is what we are seeing in DeKalb. There are more Ant-wans out there.”
" The Teenager had a .40-caliber Smith and Wesson Holstered in his Shorts when he Died "
( IMAGINE THAT - HE WAS CARRYING A GUN - THUG )
( IMAGINE THAT - HE WAS CARRYING A GUN - THUG )
Some DeKalb police officers fear that the “hybrid” local gangs — cliques that form with little leadership or structure — have developed stronger ties to national gangs.
One National Blood “set” – “Sex Money Murda” — has been putting down Roots.
One National Blood “set” – “Sex Money Murda” — has been putting down Roots.
“The Carjackings are on the Increase because of that set,” Williams said. “They have been recruiting at an alarming rate. Not Just in DeKalb but in Atlanta and the Surrounding Counties.”
DeKalb dwarfs its neighbors in Burglaries, with 50,500 between 2008 and 2012, compared with nearly 41,000 in the runner-up, Atlanta.
There were 3,420 Violent Crimes and 30,285 property crimes in DeKalb in 2012, which is about the same as the previous 2 Years. But DeKalb’s Numbers are Twice that of Gwinnett County and about 3 Times that of Cobb County.
Gabe Banks, who heads Fulton County’s Gang Prosecution, said Metro Atlanta Gangs have become more organized with established leadership and codes of conduct.
“The perception was that this is a wannabe problem with wannabe gang members, but they are evolving,” Banks said. “People really didn’t want to recognize that we had a gang problem.”
Capt. Sonya Porter, head of DeKalb police gang unit, voiced skepticism gangs were growing stronger in the county. “We have not seen a big influx of people coming from out of state recruiting,” she said. “We’re not seeing an escalation of violence with gangs. We’re seeing the same amount of violence as we saw 5 years ago.”
DeKalb Public Safety Director Cedric Alexander said local gangs normally have no org charts showing leaders and worker bees and colors.
“We have all these factions and semblances of gangs,” he said. “These guys are more free agents. I don’t want to give them credence by calling their names out in public.”
Alexander did say the department would be “more aggressive in seeing who they are and what they are up to.”
“This burglary crew is a gang,” said Topalli, even if it is not organized and fearsome like Gangs in Chicago or Los Angeles. “Nobody wants to say there is a Gang Problem in their county or city.
“There is always the politics of it. ‘Gang’ is a very charged word.”
To residents, it doesn’t matter if they are local burglary rings, robbing crews, gang wannabees or Real-Deal Bloods. Crime is Crime
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