2nd suspect arrested in slaying of 21-year-old

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Authorities said Wednesday they’d arrested a second suspect in the weekend shooting death of a 21-year-old in downtown Augusta.

According to the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, D’Andre Tandy was arrested Tuesday in North Augusta by a multijurisdictional law enforcement task force.

The arrest came on the same day as the arrest of another suspect, Keyon Smiley, 31, in connection with the slaying that happened around 1:55 a.m. Sunday at 10th and Broad streets.

The arrest warrant for Smiley accuses him of felony murder and doesn’t allege that he pulled the trigger on the gun that killed Etterle. In fact, Smiley was shot in the ankle, according to an incident report from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.

Smiley’s arrest warrant alleges he was in a physical altercation with Etterle when a co-suspect pulled a gun and shot Etterle in the upper torso.

The altercation reportedly broke out where a food truck serves the after-bar crowd on weekends. The truck will no longer be at the location, at the request of the property owner.

Etterle was pronounced dead at the scene, the first of three people slain within three days in Augusta.

Two hours after Etterle was killed, Jakwan Gunter, 19, was pronounced dead after a shooting at 11th Avenue and Grand Boulevard near Carrie Mays Park.

Then on Tuesday morning, Eurl Kittles, 42, of Augusta, was shot dead at a Captain D’s in the 3100 block of Wrightsboro Road.

The slayings are just the latest in a string that Augusta has endured since mid-April. Deputies call the wave of homicides frustrating and disappointing, but say they’re working on prevention.

TACKLING LOCAL CRIME:

• What are deputies doing about Augusta’s deadly crime rate?
• ‘It’s senseless’: City leaders, residents react to recent crime surge
• Despite surge, data reveals overall crime is down in Augusta
• Groups working together to cut Augusta’s violent crime

Aside from the three fatal shootings so far this week, homicides since April 14 in the CSRA include:

• On June 3 in the 100 block of Pelzer Street in Warrenville, 34-year-old Lacey Toole was shot dead by her boyfriend John Williams, who then turned the gun on himself.
• On June 2 on Summerhill Avenue, 37-year-old Yoni Vargas shot his wife, 33-year-old Rosa Salguero-Landaverde, then killed himself.
• On May 29, a shooting killed two people – 17-year-old William Mykell Lowery and 30-year-old Christopher “Scooter” Dunn – at a “Freaknik”-themed party being held at a ball[park outside Sandersville, Ga. The shooting is believed to be the result of an altercation.
• Patricia Dent, 65, was strangled to death by her boyfriend Joseph McKinnon, who then buried her body in their yard at 102 Tanglewood Drive in Trenton, authorities say. They learned of her death on May 7 after finding McKinnon dead of a heart attack he suffered while burying Dent.
• A shooting just before 7:30 p.m. on April 23 claimed the life of Rodriquez Dunn, 31, at the Olmstead Homes in the 2100 block of B Street in Augusta. Dunn suffered at least one gunshot wound and died at the scene.
• On April 19, Brittany Dougherty was found slain outside a vacant home in the 1500 block of Conklin Lane. Her death was considered suspicious from the start, but within hours the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office ruled her death a homicide.
• On April 18, Johnnie Coleman was found shot dead in the 1900 block of Old Savannah Road. Authorities released a photo of a car suspected to have been linked to that slaying. Kelvin Lewis, 33, has been arrested as a suspect in the murders of Coleman and Dougherty.
• Jenefer Holt Herron, 52, of Augusta, died late April 18 after being shot during an argument outside the Circle K at 1739 Walton Way in Augusta. Suspect Yelena Buckner, 33, of Augusta, was later found and arrested on charges of murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, deputies reported.
• JaJuan Russell, 21, of Augusta, was fatally shot early April 17 in the 3700 block of Oslo Road in Augusta. Russell was taken to Augusta University Medical Center.
• Sandersville police found the body of a man on April 16 inside a home on Gwendolyn Street while responding to a report of a domestic dispute at the address. Santavious Louis Roberts, 35, of Sandersville, was arrested.
• Brandon Peebles, 24, of Girard, was shot around 10:45 p.m. on April 14 in the 2300 block of Prague Court. He was pronounced dead at 11:23 p.m.

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