COBB COUNTY, Ga. — An 18-year-old has been charged with murder after police linked him to the stabbing death of a 17-year-old, whose body was found lifeless on an apartment complex playground.
Back on Nov. 20, Cobb County Police officers were called to an apartment complex at 6660 Mableton Parkway about 7:30 a.m. after a resident saw a person's body lying on the ground not moving.
Family identified the body as that of 17-year-old Nasser Benefield. Investigators ruled that he had been stabbed multiple times.
11Alive's Faith Abubey spoke to the young man's mother, Kelly Benefield, who said her son had been living in the complex with his grandfather for few days after he moved from Macon to Atlanta.
Naseer's grandfather, Kalem Hasan, told 11Alive when he left the apartment Sunday night to get dinner, his grandson was on the phone with somebody, but he didn't know who.
"He told me, 'Be safe grandpa.' and I said, 'OK', and I went on and left," Hasan said.
When he got back, Naseer and his backpack were gone. He said he got ready for bed and locked the door, because he knew the 17-year-old would have to knock to get let back in, "But that knock never came," he said.
After weeks of investigating, authorities arrested 18-year-old Dawson Lee Wagner of Woodstock at a residence in Canton on Dec. 7. They charged him with Felony Murder and Aggravated Assault. He was transported to the Cobb County Adult Detention Center and remains there without bond.
The investigation continues.
