Four people—including three teenagers—are facing murder charges in Georgia after a mother used her son’s cellphone location to find him fatally shot inside an abandoned home following Halloween.
The Albany Police Department identified the suspects as 22-year-old Detravion Parke, two 15-year-olds and a 16-year-old. All four were arrested in connection with the death of 15-year-old Austin Payne.
Police said each suspect was 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, where they found Payne dead inside an abandoned residence. According to WALB, Payne’s mother tracked his cellphone after he did not come home from Halloween activities.
Police arrested 22-year-old Detravion Parker and three teenagers in connection with the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Austin Payne, according to the Albany Police Department. (Albany Police Department/Google Maps)
Albany Police Chief Michael Persley said at a Nov. 2 news conference that Payne managed to call 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 determine what happened before Payne’s death, WALB reported.
Witnesses reportedly told police that armed suspects confronted a group walking with Payne, demanded their belongings and then fired at them.
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Albany police charged two 15-year-olds, a 16-year-old and 22-year-old Detravion Parker with murder after finding a teenage boy dead in an abandoned home. (Albany Police Department)
WALB reported that investigators believe Payne may have been targeted in an attempted robbery connected to a handgun he had recently shown on social media.
Payne’s family has created a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for funeral and burial 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.
Police Chief Michael Persley said Austin Payne called his mother after being wounded in the shooting, during a Nov. 2 news conference. (Albany Police Department)
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact the Albany Police Department at 229-431-2100.