Person of interest named in HS senior's killing

HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — Police have named a person of interest in the killing of a high school senior.

Jesse Thomas, 17, was shot and killed at a house party early Saturday morning in McDonough. He was a senior at Stockbridge High School and set to graduate this month.

"My last conversation, my last words were 'I love you,'" the victim's father, Jamal Sullivan, said.

Thomas was with his brother and a group of friends when a fight broke out.The senior was shot once, then driven to Henry-Piedmont Hospital, where he later died.

On Sunday morning,  detectives released a picture of Dexter Covington, 19.

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Police are calling Covington a person of interest and said he was last seen driving an all black Chevy Camero with Georgia license plate: RCA 2611.

Sullivan told Channel 2's Steve Gehlbach the shooter fired into a crowd of young people at the party and any one of them could have been killed.

"From what I heard it died down and escalated back up really quick,” Sullivan said. “No one knows what happened. Punches were thrown and the guy fired … He was just shot.”

Anyone who sees Covington is urged to call Detective Rotella with the Henry County Police Department at 770-288-8269.

The school district says counselors will be available for students when they go back to Stockbridge High School Monday morning.

Cox Media Group