Georgia Police Finally Cracked A Triple Homicide Cold Case, But One Suspect Has Folks Shook
Three people were lured to a house in Jonesboro, Ga., where they were forced to enter at gunpoint, tortured and killed, according to police. On Jan. 13, 2013, Union City police officers patrolling Interstate I-85 in Georgia discovered the dead bodies stuffed inside an abandoned 2010 Dodge Charger on an exit ramp.
For more than 11 years, the case remained unsolved.
Georgia’s Clayton County Sheriff’s Office announced last week that investigators finally cracked the cold case and issued arrest warrants for four suspects, charging them with three counts each of malice murder.
Sheriff Levon Allen said he dispatched his “elite fugitive unit” to locate the four suspects. The unit secured the arrest of all four men across three states.
One of the suspects, 45-year-old Keante Harris, has received a lot of attention. It turns out that Harris is the assistant principal at McAdory Middle School in McCalla, Ala.
“We have been made aware that Mr. Keante Harris was arrested Wednesday (May 8) afternoon. At this time we still are gathering facts about the specifics of this situation. However, early indications are that the charges are not related to this individual’s employment with Jefferson County Schools,” Jefferson County Schools said in a statement, via WBMA.
Under the school district’s policy, Harris is on paid administrative leave. His LinkedIn profile says he was a special education teacher in Montgomery, Ala. public schools from 2006 to 2016, during the time of the murders. He also held multiple assistant principal positions during his career.
Harris made his first appearance in an Alabama courtroom on May 14. He seemed emotional when he stood before Judge William Bell Jr. to sign his extradition papers to release him into the custody of Georgia authorities. His mother and other family members were also present at the hearing.
Officials identified the crime victims as Cheryl Colquitt-Thompson, whose body was stuffed in the trunk, and Quinones King and Rodney Cottrell, who were both found in the back seat of the vehicle, according to USA Today. Records indicate that Colquitt-Thompson was found strangled, and the two men died from asphyxiation.
Georgia authorities identified the other three suspects as Kenneth Thompson, Kevin Harris and Darrell Harris. They were taken into custody in Georgia and South Carolina, awaiting extradition to Clayton County. The Sheriff’s Office did not give details about the evidence that led to the arrests or a motive for the killings.
