Four people, including three teenagers, face murder charges in Georgia after a mother used her son’s cellphone location to find the 15-year-old fatally shot inside an abandoned home after Halloween.
The Albany Police Department identified the adult suspect as 22-year-old Detravion Parke. Two 15-year-olds and a 16-year-old were also arrested in connection with the death of Austin Payne.
Police said all four suspects were charged with murder and taken to the Dougherty County Jail.
Officers were called to the 800 block of Cameo Lane in Albany on Nov. 1 and found Payne dead inside the vacant residence. According to WALB, his mother began searching for him after he did not come home from Halloween activities and located him by tracking his cellphone.
Detravion Parker, 22, was arrested and charged with murder along with three teenagers in the death of 15-year-old Austin Payne, the Albany Police Department said. (Albany Police Department/Google Maps)
During a Nov. 2 news conference, Albany Police Chief Michael Persley said Payne reached out to his mother after he was shot.
“He did make a call to his mother that he had been shot,” Persley said.
Investigators examined surveillance video, cellphone data and witness accounts as they worked to establish what happened before the teenager’s death, WALB reported.
Witnesses told police that armed people confronted the group Payne was walking with, demanded their property and then opened fire, according to the news outlet.
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Albany police charged two 15-year-olds, a 16-year-old and 22-year-old Detravion Parker with murder after a teenage boy was found dead inside an abandoned residence. (Albany Police Department)
WALB reported that Payne may have been targeted in an attempted robbery because he had recently shown a handgun on social media.
Payne’s family has created a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for funeral costs.
A family member said Payne would have celebrated his 16th birthday on Nov. 12.
“Our family is trying to process this heartbreaking loss,” the relative wrote.
The fundraiser said Payne is survived by his mother and his 17-year-old sister.
Albany Police Chief Michael Persley said at a Nov. 2 news conference that Austin Payne called his mother after he had been shot. (Albany Police Department)
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact the Albany Police Department’s investigators at 229-431-2100.
