Austell woman joins boyfriend in jail months after altercation and shooting, police say

Sep. 19—Police say an Austell woman has joined her boyfriend in jail, after warrants show the two were involved in a verbal altercation at a townhome complex in May that escalated to shooting and left one man with multiple gunshot wounds.

Senicka Clarke, 25, was arrested Sept. 13 in connection to the shooting on the evening of May 13 at the residential community on Oak Hill Circle, about a half-mile north of Interstate 20.

An arrest warrant accuses Clarke of retrieving a 9mm handgun from her vehicle after she said the other man involved in the argument first approached her with a gun. She told police her boyfriend, Mia'Tece Hodge, took the gun from her and then "she heard shooting."

"(Clarke) was unable to determine who fired first," the warrant states.

Following the shooting, police say Clarke and Hodge fled the scene, while the other man involved was transported to Grady Hospital in Atlanta with multiple gunshot wounds.

Clarke faces one felony count of aggravated assault with a weapon and one felony count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. She is being held at the Cobb County jail without bond, jail records show.

Hodge, 26, of Marietta, was arrested in June on separate charges and remains in jail without bond, according to jail records. A warrant adding charges in connection to the May shooting was issued on Sept. 13.

In connection to the shooting, Hodge faces one felony count each of aggravated assault with a weapon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, jail records show. A Cobb warrant shows Hodge has a 2013 conviction in Clayton County for first-degree burglary, as well as a 2018 conviction for burglary in Cobb.

Hodge was arrested around 9 p.m. on June 14 at the intersection of Atlanta Road and Georgia McMillan Drive in Smyrna, just under a mile northwest of Windy Hill Road, according to a separate warrant.

That warrant states Hodge had been speeding prior to his arrest, but during a search of the vehicle, officers also found an olive drab Glock 19 handgun in the glove compartment and 4.3 grams of methamphetamine in an earphone case.

Hodge faces one felony count each of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of methamphetamine and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime involving drugs. He also faces a misdemeanor speeding charge, and jail records show he is charged with a probation violation.

Follow Thomas Hartwell on Twitter at twitter.com/MDJThomas.