Man held on murder charges for killing teen near Atlanta

ROSWELL, Ga. (AP) — Police arrested a 20-year-old man on murder charges Wednesday as they investigated the deaths of two teenagers, each shot in the head, whose bodies were found behind a grocery store in suburban Atlanta.

Roswell Police Chief Rusty Grant said Jeffrey A. Hazelwood was arrested in connection with the Aug. 1 deaths of Natalie Henderson and Carter Davis. While investigators are unsure of the motive, they believe Hazelwood acted alone, the chief said.

Hazelwood was being held at the Roswell Detention Center awaiting transfer to the Fulton County Jail.

A delivery driver discovered the bodies behind a Publix store, Det. Zachary Frommer said. The Fulton County coroner said each juvenile was killed by a bullet to the head.

The two 17-year-olds were about to begin their senior years of high school. Henderson attended Roswell High, just across the street from Publix, and Davis was a standout lacrosse player at River Ridge in nearby Cherokee County.

Davis also played lacrosse in Rapid City, South Dakota, before returning to finish high school in Georgia, where he had lived as a child, said Richard Sudmeier, former president of the Black Hills Lacrosse Association.

“Our players here in Rapid City called him 'Georgia.' That was his nickname,” Sudmeier said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Davis wore No. 6 when he played on the Black Hills lacrosse team, so Sudmeier said teammates were allowed to wear helmet stickers with the number in his honor.

South Dakota players plan to gather Friday to remember Davis, who was always willing to help his former teammates improve and “was pretty much like a second coach,” said Zach Hockert, the varsity coach at Black Hills Lacrosse.

“If I had a whole Carter Davis team, we would be unbeatable,” Hockert said Wednesday.