Grandfather of suspect in Roswell killings: 'Our hearts are broken'

ROSWELL, Ga. — The grandfather of a man accused of shooting and killing two Roswell teens says their hearts have been ripped out.

Jeff Hazelwood, 20, lived with his grandparents in Roswell. Hazelwood is accused of shooting and killing Natalie Henderson and Carter Davis, both 17, behind a Publix in Roswell on Aug. 1. He is facing two counts of murder. %

%

Court documents say Hazelwood followed Henderson and Davis to the parking lot before killing and then robbing them. Police have not released any sort of connection between Hazelwood and the victims.

Hazelwood was, however, known to Roswell police. Channel 2’s Mark Winne found several reports of incidents where police interacted with Hazelwood dating back to 2011.

One report from April 2013 says, "I made contact with Marsha Hazelwood, her husband and her 16-year-old grandson. Hazelwood explained that her and her husband have legal custody of the juvenile."

The report says "Hazelwood said that the juvenile took his knives and sword from the gun safe,” and "Hazelwood informed me that (approximately) 6-8 weeks ago, the juvenile informed her that he was going to blow and people we're going to get hurt. Hazelwood asked him who was going to get hurt and he said he didn’t know who, when, or how and that he didn’t have a plan."

RELATED STORIES:

• Suspect in teens' murder shakes, talks to himself in first court hearing
• Chief: Suspect used victim's credit card after killings
• Roswell community mourning deaths of 2 teens

“In hindsight obviously it was a very bad thing, but at the time the officers can’t really involuntarily commit somebody to the hospital because there's no necessarily imminent threat,” attorney Manny Arora said. “From the police reports that you have, about eight of them over the last six years, you can see the level of the severity of the commentary in the police reports getting worse and worse and worse."

In February 2010 police were dispatched to the Hazelwood home in "reference to a juvenile in the yard with a handgun." The gun turned out to be a toy gun, according to police.

In

March 2011

, reports show Hazelwood’s grandfather reported him missing. The report says, “juvenile did leave a note stating that he was going to see if he could survive for a couple days in the woods. The juvenile is suspected of taking a Sig Sauer 9 mm handgun.” %

%

Later that year in December, police were dispatched to a report of Hazelwood swinging a sword in the front yard. The report says Hazelwood told officers he was "practicing for karate." The same report says the complainant, who lives nearby said "he believes the juvenile is dangerous and has issues."

The most recent report involving Hazelwood was made in April.

Hazelwood’s attorney Lawrence Zimmerman says Hazelwood plans to enter a not-guilty plea but it is too early for him to comment on Hazelwood’s background or specific details of the case.

A man who indicated he was Hazelwood’s grandfather, Walter Hazelwood, told Winne, “Our hearts are broken for the other families. Our hearts are just ripped out.”

Walter Hazelwood said the community's been very nice to the Hazelwoods, and his church community has been a big support.

Cox Media Group