According to police, three 18-year-olds were arrested in connection with the gruesome shooting death of a 15-year-old girl in her bedroom at her Georgia home.
The Peachtree City Police Department identified the three perpetrators as Fayetteville residents Jacobean Brown, Justus Smith, and Yeshua Mathis.
They have been charged with the murder of Madison Gesswein, a 15-year-old girl.
Gesswein’s relatives told detectives that Jacobean Brown’s father was shot and died in a bank parking lot in South Fulton, Georgia, on February 10. It is unclear whether the murders are connected.
Her mother discovered the Whitewater High School student dead in her bed at 6 a.m. on February 21 at their apartment.
The police department said that they are still awaiting the autopsy report, which will determine her cause of death, however responding officers discovered her with a gunshot wound to the head.
Gesswein’s mother called 911 as soon as she saw her daughter in bed, bleeding profusely from the head. Following the dispatcher’s instructions, she attempted emergency CPR on her daughter.
She also informed the dispatcher that her daughter’s bedroom windows were open and that the blinds had been messed with.
Although the motive for the brutal murder has yet to be discovered, investigators have stated that the suspects and deceased knew each other.
During a news conference on Wednesday, Peachtree Police Assistant Chief Matt Myers stated that the murder was not random, that the suspects knew whose house they were in, and that the act had to be connected to something between the parties.
Although it is unclear how the suspects gained entry to the house, the window from the girl’s bedroom was taken away for forensic examination.
Gesswein’s friend, Jada Zimbabwe, voiced her shock at her friend’s death. According to Zimbabwe, Gesswein did nothing to provoke her murder.
The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office caught one suspect after he fled his house and discovered another at the same address. Officers caught the third suspect the next day in Fayetteville.
The three defendants are being held in the Fayette County Jail. They may face additional charges as the investigation continues.
