The Dalton Police Department has arrested 16-year-old Endy Becerra on a charge of felony murder related to Wednesday night’s shooting death on at 214 Easterling St. Two other men are wanted on murder warrants. Investigators determined that drugs were involved in the incident.
At approximately 11:40 p.m., Dalton officers were dispatched to a call of a shooting on Easterling Street. When officers arrived they found 20-year-old Abel Carmona lying on the ground in the parking lot of the apartments at 214 Easterling.
Witnesses at the scene told officers that the shooter fled the scene in a small dark-colored sedan. The victim was being attended to by his friends Marcus Soto and Roberto Lopez, who were trying to stop his bleeding from a gunshot wound to his chest. Carmona was unresponsive and was later pronounced dead at Hamilton Medical Center. Officers secured the crime scene and began interviewing witnesses.
Dalton detectives determined that Carmona went to the apartments on Easterling Street with Soto and Lopez in order to buy a large quantity of marijuana with more than $900 in cash he had obtained from the sale of a car. Something apparently went wrong during the deal leading to the shooting.
Roberto Lopez, 20, of 124 Montrose Way was later arrested after investigators determined that he lied to them during his interview.
Detectives worked throughout the night and into the day Thursday with the assistance of the GBI and investigators with the Chatsworth Police Department and the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force, which includes officers from the Murray County and Whitfield County Sheriff’s Offices and the Calhoun Police Department.
Information developed through the course of the investigation led detectives to Becerra. Investigators say Marquis Dequan Tanner, 20, of 110 Mallory Dr. and Tywon Jay Henderson, 17, of 1300 Autumn Court were with Becerra at the meeting on Easterling Street when the shooting happened. Both are wanted on warrants for felony murder. At this time, investigators have not determined which of the suspects shot Carmona.
Anyone with information about this incident or the whereabouts of Marquis Dequan Tanner or Tywon Jay Henderson is asked to contact Detective Jason Bishop at 706-278-9085, extension 214.