Man accused of killing teen and leaving her body in cemetery is captured, GA cops say
A man accused of shooting and killing an Atlanta area teen before dumping her body at a cemetery in central Georgia faces murder charges, authorities announced Wednesday.
Jaylan Jashad Ray, 22, was arrested in Tallahassee days after a family found the body of 17-year-old D’Shaunti Kyanni Hunter near the back of a burial site in Barnesville, Georgia, last week, according to the Lamar County Sheriff’s Office.
The family was visiting a loved one’s grave when they spotted Hunter’s remains on Sunday, McClatchy News previously reported. Authorities said she had been shot at least once.
Sheriff’s investigators with help from U.S. deputy Marshals and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation captured Ray, who’s from Albany, which is just over 100 miles south of Macon.
Police said Hunter was from Ellenwood, about 20 miles southeast of Atlanta. It has not been revealed how the two knew each other.
“[Ray] will be awaiting extradition in Leon county jail, in Florida,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release, adding that “warrants have been taken for murder and aggravated assault.”
Hunter’s body was taken to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab, where an autopsy is pending.