Atlanta police have arrested a thief suspected stabbing a grandmother to death in her home in the city’s wealthiest suburbs.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens announced that Antonio Brown, 23, was taken into custody for questioning about the murder of 77-year-old Ellen Bowles.
Her own son found her knifed to death in the garage of her nearly $800,000 home on Saturday.
A photo of a man believed to be brown entering Bowles’ Lexus SUV was circulated by police over the weekend. Cops said the grandmother may have walked in on Brown as he attempted to steal the car.
Bowles, 77, was found stabbed to death in her garage on Saturday by her own son
Police released this photo of a man believed to be Antonio Brown as he enters Bowles’ Lexus
Bowles lived in a gated community in the Buckhead residential district, which has considered seceding from Atlanta and forming its own government due the city’s rampant crime.
Police said Brown was arrested after a local came to them with information.
They said Bowles’ car had been driven to multiple locations after the killing, and that it was located in DeKalb County, which borders Buckhead.
Deputy police Chief Charles Hampton Jr. said it was believed that Brown got into Bowles’ neighborhood by foot, but did not say how he made it past the gate.
Hampton said it was possible Brown was aided by an accomplice, and said authorities were continuing to investigate.
Ellen Bowles pictured with her son Michael Bowles, who discovered her dead in her garage on Saturday
Bowles’ Buckhead home, which is worth nearly $800,000, where she was knifed to death on Saturday
Michael Bowles discovered his mother dead in her garage on Saturday as he came home to visit her for the holidays.
Cops said it was likely the slaying occurred sometime between 11:30am and 12:30pm that day.
Police said Bowles had been stabbed multiple times, and appeared to have been making Christmas preparations when she interrupted Brown.
‘We have who we were looking for right now,’ Hampton said in his announcement of Brown’s arrest.
Ellen dances with her son Michael. She was described as ‘kind, precious, funny, loving’ on a GoFundMe page set up in her honor
A picture of the man believed to be Antonio Brown cops released. Brown has been arrested
Bowles was a mother of two, and was characterized as ‘kind, precious, funny, loving’ on a GoFundMe page set up in her honor.
Described as a fierce lover of animals, all proceeds from the fundraiser are being donated to the Atlanta Humane Society.
Her son Michael said in a statement he was dedicating himself to make sure his mother’s death spurned action against violent crime.
‘I am committed to getting the word out about this outrageous tragedy. And I want everyone to understand that none of us are safe,’ he said. ‘I hope that people read this story and understand this, and then maybe we can all collectively effectuate some change. I will carry that message with me forever, for mom.’
Buckhead residents first voiced the notion of secession from the rest of Atlanta in 2008, after a newsletter was circulated proposing that the move could reduce residents’ taxes by 50 percent.
The motion largely fizzled, but was rekindled again in 2021 as a means of curbing violent crime which was growing in the area.
‘We are living in a war zone in Buckhead,’ session advocate and Buckhead resident Bill White told Bloomberg at the time. ‘Shootings and killings, it just never ends.’
As recently as this past May, a non-binding advisory question was included on state’s gubernatorial primary ballot asking Georgians across the state whether or not they wanted to see Buckhead secede from Atlanta.
It is unclear what the results of that poll were.
