Minutes after identifying murder suspect, Atlanta police say they had him in custody
APD's Homicide Commander exclusively told Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Mark Winne that a domestic dispute in DeKalb County helped them make the arrest quickly.
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Melvin Marshall, 25, has been arrested in the May 17 shooting death of Torrance Statham, 51, near the Garnett Street MARTA station.
Atlanta police previously put out a photo of the man, later determined to be Marshall, in the hopes someone could help identify him.
But when evidence at a DeKalb County scene potentially pointed to Marshall being involved in Statham's death, an APD detective went to the scene. He gathered enough evidence to charge Marshall with murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and more.
"We do know from video surveillance that there was a conversation prior to the assault and shooting. So we don't believe that this was just a random shooting, that there was some type of relationship between the two," APD Homicide Commander Lt. Andrew Smith said.
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Smith says Marshall wouldn't talk to police about the shooting, so they are still trying to determine a motive.
But he says they believe Statham may have been homeless.
'It's important that we bring justice to every case. Last year, we cleared over 83% of our homicides. Ten of those were unsheltered individuals," Smith said. 'They're often the hardest to solve because of the lack of technology.'
Police say he already had outstanding misdemeanor warrants stemming from a domestic incident in February.
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