Investigators said Carter drove to the apartment complex and pretended he was there to deliver a package, WAGA reported. — Photo by Maarten van den Heuvel on Unsplash
A man disguised himself as a delivery driver before police say he shot and killed a man dating his ex-girlfriend in Georgia, multiple news outlets report.
Donovan Carter, 33, faces malice murder and other charges after he gunned down Kenneth Cunningham II outside an apartment complex in Smyrna, according to the Marietta Police Department.
Officers were called around 10.30am on Wednesday, Jan 3, and arrived to find a man on the ground with “multiple gunshot wounds”, police said in a news release.
Cunningham died at the scene.
Authorities said the shooting wasn’t random, and further investigation revealed Cunningham was dating Carter’s former girlfriend, WXIA reported.
“This was a preplanned, premeditated event that took place,” Marietta police public information officer Chuck McPhilamy told the station. It also happened to be Cunningham’s 40th birthday, he said.
Investigators said Carter drove to the apartment complex and pretended he was there to deliver a package, WAGA reported.
“The suspect did wear a costume to appear like they were a delivery driver,” McPhilamy told the station. “They did use that to then lure that victim out of their own residence and then subsequently shoot them to death.”
Carter ran immediately after the shooting, sparking an hourslong manhunt by multiple law enforcement agencies, according to the news release. He was later arrested in Gwinnett County and taken to jail.
Cunningham’s family was in town from Chicago to celebrate his birthday but is instead planning his funeral, WSB-TV reported.
“I pray for them, I pray for their healing,” a neighbour told the station.
Carter was charged with aggravated assault, murder commission of a felony, malice murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, police said.
He remained in custody at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center without bond as of Jan 5, jail records show.
Smyrna is about 20 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta. – The Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service
