ATLANTA — One of the the people wounded during a deadly apartment shooting in Atlanta’s Vine City neighborhood is now facing murder and armed robbery charges, according to newly obtained arrest warrants.
Atlanta police say 19-year-old Naim Smith was one of four people shot Tuesday at The Flats on Maple Street. Investigators now accuse him of taking part in an armed robbery that led to the gunfire.
According to the warrants, Smith and three unidentified men entered an apartment during an armed robbery. Investigators believe the apartment was being used to store illegal drugs for sale.
Police say three people inside the apartment were shot, including 35-year-old Demazio Skelton Jr., who died, the Fulton County Medical Examiner said.
Skelton was a former Georgia State football player. In a statement to Channel 2 Action News, the university called him “an exceptional student-athlete” and said he was “among the top defensive players to take the field for the Panther football team.”
“Our thoughts and condolences are with his family, friends, former teammates and those who knew and loved him,” the statement said. “He will forever be a Georgia State Panther.”
According to the warrants, Smith was also shot during the incident but was later identified as a suspect after investigators reviewed surveillance video and learned he had been treated at Grady Memorial Hospital.
Smith is charged with murder, armed robbery and aggravated assault.
Residents at the apartment complex said the gunfire erupted just outside their doors.
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“The first gunshot sounded kind of distant. The other four were very loud, very dramatic,” resident Josh Roberts told Channel 2’s Brittany Kleinpeter.
Roberts said he feared bullets would come through the walls of his apartment.
“That was a big concern that it would come through the walls, so I didn’t know what to do,” Roberts said. “I didn’t know which bathroom to go to because it could’ve been bad.”
He said the shooting has changed how he feels about living at the complex.
“I’ve been in this area for two years now and that was the closest, scariest moment of me being here,” Roberts said.
Police have not announced whether the three other people identified in the warrants have been arrested.
Anyone with information or surveillance video related to the shooting is asked to contact Atlanta Police homicide investigators or Crime Stoppers.
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