By Joe Johnson
The home of a relatives of a recent Athens homicide victim reportedly was raked by gunfire in an apparent drive-by shooting last week, Athens-Clarke County police said.
According to a police incident report, 35-year-old Ramon Jones was with his wife and children in their home on Marlborough Downs Road at about 11:30 p.m. Friday when they heard 15 to 30 gunshots in rapid succession that appeared to come from an automatic weapon.
Jones told officers that he was on a living room couch and his wife was in the kitchen when bullets entered the front and east side of their home, according to the report. The couple’s daughters, ages 1, 3, and 18 were at the back of the residence at the time.
No one was injured by the hail of bullets.
Officers reported recovering several bullet cartridge casings from in front of the home and a neighboring residence.
When asked why his home might have been targeted Jones “was quiet at first but later stated that he was unsure who would do this,” an officer wrote in the incident report.” He did advise me that his brother, Carlos Harper, was recently killed on the east side of Athens though.”
Police said that 15-year-old Marquise Malcom allegedly shot and killed 38-year-old Carlos Harper at about 11 p.m. May 8 during a block party at the Clarke Gardens apartment complex located off Barnett Shoals Road.
Malcom reportedly shot Harper after Harper confronted him over something inappropriate the teen might have said or done to the victim’s daughter during the block party, according to police.
Police were attempting to determine if the two shooting incidents were related.
“Mr. Jones’s relation to Carlos Harper is certainly relevant to the investigation and is an aspect that investigators will look into,” said Lt. Shaun Barnett, ACCPD’s public information officer. ” However, it is early in the investigation and detectives have not yet determined a motive for this incident.”
According to Barnett, “Nobody described seeing or hearing a vehicle but the evidence located in the roadway is consistent with drive-by shootings.”