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3 teens arrested after 15-year-old girl murdered in her bed in Peachtree City

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. — Three teenagers have been arrested after a 15-year-old girl was murdered Tuesday in Peachtree City.

Police said the victim, Madison Gesswein, was found with a head injury at The Greens at Braelinn apartments around 6 a.m. Her mother discovered her daughter’s body when she got home from an overnight shift.

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A final cause of death is pending determination by the medical examiner, but police said the injury appeared to be consistent with a gunshot wound.

Detectives said they quickly identified the suspects as three 18-year-olds from Fayetteville.

Justus Smith, Jacobean Brown and Yeshua Mathis have all been arrested and charged with murder.

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Two of the teens were arrested at the same house. The other teen was arrested at another home in Fayetteville. Smith, Brown and Mathis are in custody at the Fayette County Jail.

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Police did not give a motive for the murder or say who fired the fatal shot.

“We’re still investigating an exact motive and the role of each person involved,” Assistant Chief of Peachtree City Police Matt Myers said. “This was not a random act. They knew whose apartment they were at.”

Gesswein was a student at Whitewater High School in Fayetteville. According to school officials, Smith and Mathis were also both students at Whitewater High School.

NewsChopper 2 was over the scene on Channel 2 Action News at Noon on Tuesday, where crime scene tape was strung up around an apartment building.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation removed a broken window from the apartment to examine it. They also combed the woods behind the building.