Three teenagers and a 22-year-old man have been charged with murder in Georgia after a mother found her 15-year-old son fatally shot inside an abandoned home after Halloween.
The Albany Police Department said investigators arrested 22-year-old Detravion Parke, two 15-year-olds and a 16-year-old in connection with the death of 15-year-old Austin Payne.
All four suspects were charged with murder and taken to the Dougherty County Jail, police said.
Officers were called to the 800 block of Cameo Lane in Albany on Nov. 1. They found Payne dead inside an abandoned residence, according to authorities.
Payne’s mother located him by tracking his cellphone after he failed to come home on Halloween, WALB reported.
Albany Police Chief Michael Persley said at a Nov. 2 news conference that Payne had called his mother after he was shot.
“He did make a call to his mother that he had been shot,” Persley said.
Investigators reviewed surveillance video, cellphone records and witness accounts to piece together the events before Payne’s death, according to WALB.
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Witnesses told police that armed people approached a group walking with Payne, demanded their belongings and opened fire, the outlet reported.
WALB reported that Payne may have been targeted during an attempted robbery involving a handgun he had recently shown on social media.
Payne’s family has created a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for funeral expenses.
A relative 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.
The Albany Police Department is urging anyone with information about the shooting to contact investigators at 229-431-2100.