GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Suwanee man accused of murdering a mother in a drive-by shooting faces new criminal charges as police released new body camera video of his arrest.
Body camera video shows officers confronting the suspect, Christian Lessington, 23, who was found in the passenger seat of a car attempting to leave the scene.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Suwanee and Duluth Police officers arrived in the neighborhood on Baxley Village Trail seven minutes after bullets were fired into a home on Nov. 22. Nicole Winds-Clemons, 45, died as she stood in her kitchen.
“Both of y’all leave your hands exactly where they’re at,” an officer is heard saying in the video to Lessington.
Lessington complied, telling police, “Please don’t shoot me.”
Police said a gun was found on the floorboard near Lessington.
“There’s a gun in the floorboard… do not reach for that gun,” an officer warned.
Lessington was taken into custody just after 3 a.m.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Don’t get fooled: Atlanta police say be on the lookout for fake parking tickets
- More passengers say Frontier Airlines employees extorted them
- ‘Extremely long:’ YSL jurors ready to return to normal lives after spending nearly 2 years on trial
On Tuesday, police added murder charges to his long list of charges. The 23-year-old, who also lives in the neighborhood, faces 12 felonies. Police say they found more than three pounds of suspected marijuana along with more than 30 individually packaged vape cartridges with him.
Investigators believe Lessington intended to shoot Winds-Clemons’ son, not her.
“I immediately ducked down when I heard the shots,” a neighbor said, describing the chaotic scene. Bullets also struck his home with his family inside, though no one there was injured.
The killing marks the first murder in Suwanee in two years, leaving neighbors and family grieving. “My heart goes to the family,” one neighbor said.
The family of Nicole Winds-Clemons has begun an online fundraiser for help with funeral costs.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]