LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gaston said Gwinnett County Police investigated 32 homicides so far in 2022. Two of those happened last week involving teens that were 17 and 18 years of age.
“You should not have to bury your children,” said Gaston.
Gwinnett County Police found 17-year-old Timothy Buchanan shot to death just around 4 p.m. along Mariray Court, near Grace New Hope Church in Lawrenceville on Oct. 2. Police say they have not made an arrest in the case.
Three days later, two teens were involved in the killing of 18-year-old Elijah DeWitt. The alleged shooter killed Dewitt outside the Dave and Buster’s at Sugarloaf Mills Mall in Lawrenceville. Anderson County Police arrested 18-year-old Kemare Bryan and 19-year-old Chandler Zion Richardson in South Carolina.
Gaston said she believes there are too many guns on the street. She feels the community can do more to educate the youngest members of society on how to act before an argument escalates.
“Conflict resolution is real important because now that so many people have access to guns, it’s not just merely a fist fight or something like that. It gets a lot more seriously, quickly,” explained Gaston.
Gatson said she believes there needs to be more opportunities for teenagers in the community to help keep their time occupied.
“What we’re seeing in our office is a lot of the crimes have to do with low-level drug issues," Gaston said. "It could be a marijuana deal gone bad and somebody is dead. I don’t think the young people intend on somebody dying but when you take a gun to a scene, it’s more likely than not that something really bad is going to happen with it."
The district attorney said they’ve seen homicides increase over the last three years. Just this past year, Gwinnett County Police responded to 49 homicides. That’s one more homicide than those investigated by the agency in 2020, and almost ten more than the homicides they responded to in 2019.
“Once you pull that trigger, you don’t know where a bullet is going to go. It’s killing people, and it needs to stop,” said Gatson.
Gatson believes it boils down to responsible gun ownership for those who choose to own a gun.