![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/2d1f59_f175a28928094d9baaa51c4baf557a87~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_115,h_81,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/2d1f59_f175a28928094d9baaa51c4baf557a87~mv2.jpg)
By Joe Johnson
An Athens man has been arrested for murder in connection with the shooting death last week of 15-year-old Keshawn Gainer.
The former Cedar Shoals High School student was fatally shot at about 9:30 a.m. Thursday between the 100 and 200 blocks of Westchester Circle, the same street on which he resided, according to police.
At 6:37 p.m. Tueaday, 20-year-old Kenyas Trevion Yearby of Summerbrook Circle was booked into the Clarke County Jail on a charge of malice murder for allegedly killing Gainer.
He was arrested by detectives with the Robbery/Homicide Unit.
“This senseless crime was solved quickly because of the dogged determination of the officers and detectives of the police department, the coroner’s office, the GBI, and a vigilant community,” Police Chief Cleveland Spruill said. “The case will be turned over to the District Attorney’s Office for further consideration and prosecution.”
Athens-Clarke County police have not released a motive for the killing.
Gainer’s body was found Thursday morning at a fence in the wood line across the street from his home on Westchester Circle, with the fence located behind some apartments on Cole Manor Drive, according to a police incident report.
An officer described in the report that Gainer’s arms were extended out in front of him, as though he had been reaching for something.
He had a wound to the side of his neck that was described in the report as “a gouge,” in which muscle tissue was exposed.
The report noted that a bullet cartridge casing was located near the victim’s feet and another was found nearby at the crime scene.
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/2d1f59_290f17a172284dc180c5ba2d913f472b~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_141,h_190,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/2d1f59_290f17a172284dc180c5ba2d913f472b~mv2.jpg)
At the time of the alleged murder, Yearby was on probation for an arrest three ago, when he was found in possession of a loaded gun on the Clarke Central High School campus in April 2017.
The gun was found in Yearby’s backpack, along with a cellphone that he allegedly robbed the previous month from a 16-year-old girl.
The armed robbery allegedly occurred April 10 at the Holland Youth Sports Complex off Vincent Drive, where Yearby reportedly arranged to meet with a 16-year-old girl who had advertised that she was selling an Apple iPhone 6s.
After the girl gave the $700 phone to Yearby so he could inspect it, Yearby reportedly refused to give it back and showed the girl and her companion that he had a pistol tucked into his pants waistband.
Yearby was initially charged with possession of a firearm on school grounds and was later indicted on the additional felony offenses of armed robbery, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm in the commission of a crime, possession of a firearm by a person under 18 years old.
According to court records, Yearby and the Western Judicial Circuit DA’s office struck a plea bargain in which the armed robbery charge was dismissed and he pleaded guilty to the remaining charges.
In accordance with the plea deal, a judge handed Yearby a 12-year sentence with the first two years suspended upon completion of 12 to 15 months in the county Diversion Center’s work-release program and the balance to be served on probation.
This story will be updated when additional details of Gainer’s alleged murder are made available.