Man arrested for murder after teens killed near Atlanta

ROSWELL, Ga. — Police arrested a 20-year-old man on murder charges Wednesday as they investigated the deaths of two teenagers, each shot in the head, whose bodies were found behind a grocery store in an Atlanta suburb.

Roswell Police Chief Rusty Grant said Jeffrey A. Hazelwood was arrested in the Aug. 1 deaths of Natalie Henderson and Carter Davis. While investigators are unsure of the motive, they believe Hazelwood acted alone, the chief said.

Hazelwood was being held at the Roswell Detention Center awaiting transfer to the Fulton County Jail.

A delivery man spotted the bodies behind a Publix store, Detective Zachary Frommer said. The Fulton County medical examiner said each teen was shot in the head.

Both 17-year-olds were about to start their senior years in high school. Henderson attended Roswell High, just across the street from the Publix, and Davis was a standout lacrosse player at River Ridge in neighboring Cherokee County.

Davis also played lacrosse in Rapid City, South Dakota, before returning to finish high school in Georgia, where he had lived as a child, said former Black Hills Lacrosse Association President Richard Sudmeier.

“Our players here in Rapid City, we called them ‘Georgia.’ That was his nickname,” Sudmeier said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Davis wore No. 6 when he played on the Black Hills lacrosse team, so Sudmeier said his teammates can wear helmet stickers with the number in his honor.

South Dakota players plan to gather Friday to remember Davis, who was always willing to help his former teammates improve and “was kind of like a second coach,” said Zach Hockert, the Black Hills lacrosse coach.

“If I could have a full Carter Davis team, we would be unbeatable,” Hockert said Wednesday.