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A man facing charges in a series of shootings near Atlanta, which left three individuals dead, including a Department of Homeland Security employee who was out walking her dog, passed away in jail on Tuesday night, according to authorities.
The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office reported that Olaolukitan Adon Abel, aged 26, was discovered unresponsive in his cell. Despite receiving medical attention, the U.S. Navy veteran was declared dead soon after.
While the precise cause of death has yet to be determined, authorities have indicated that foul play is not suspected. An internal investigation is currently underway.
Adon Abel faced accusations of murdering Prianna Weathers, 31, and DHS auditor Lauren Bullis, 40, during last week’s violent incidents. Additionally, authorities were preparing to charge him with the murder of Tony Mathews, 49, who succumbed to his injuries on Sunday.
Investigators have not disclosed any possible motives behind the shootings, and it remains unclear if Adon Abel had any prior connections to the victims. Police have suggested that at least one of the attacks may have been random.
Adon Abel was represented by a public defender, and the state council overseeing defenders’ work said Wednesday in a statement that his death denies him “the opportunity to contest the charges in court.”
“We also regret that the families, friends, and colleagues of the victims may now be left without the fuller answers a public legal process might have provided about how these deaths occurred,” the statement said. “That is a painful and sobering reality for everyone affected.”
Adon Abel faced state malice murder, aggravated assault and gun charges over last week’s attacks, court records show. He also faced a federal charge of illegally possessing the gun as a person previously convicted of a felony, which was filed Friday.
His roommates told The Associated Press that shortly before the shootings, he got in an intense argument over the air conditioning in their home and stormed out. He lived with six others in separate units of the home.
The United Kingdom native was granted U.S. citizenship in 2022 while serving in the U.S. Navy and stationed in the San Diego area.
The attacks in Georgia quickly drew the Trump administration’s attention, with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin raising concern that Adon Abel was granted U.S. citizenship when Democrat Joe Biden was president. Mullin cataloged a litany of Adon Abel’s previous alleged crimes, but it is unclear whether any of them occurred before he became a citizen.
Military records show the Adon Abel enlisted in the Navy in 2020, last serving in the Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron in Coronado, California, and as a petty officer received a Navy “E” Ribbon for superior performance for battle readiness.
Adon Abel pleaded guilty in October 2024 to assaulting two police officers with a deadly weapon and attacking another person when he was stationed in Coronado, near San Diego, according to California court records.
The attorney who represented him in that case, Brandon Naidu, has described him as polite, calm and soft-spoken in their interactions. He said Wednesday that his obligation to protect the confidentiality of their conversations limits what he can say publicly but, “Mental health was absolutely at the center of his San Diego case.” ““t was fueled by suicidal ideation as a result of mental health that he was self-treating with substances,” he said.
He added: “Nobody wins in this. We’ll never know the motives, what could have been done beforehand or even afterward. Nobody gets proper closure on this.”
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Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas, and Golden, from Seattle.