ROSWELL, Ga. — Police Chief Rusty Grant says a team of sergeants and detectives worked around the clock to capture the man they suspect killed two teens behind a Publix Grocery store in Roswell.
Carter Davis and Natalie Henderson were found shot to death behind the store early Monday. Roswell police arrested 20-year-old, Jeffrey A. Hazelwood, Wednesday and charged him with murder in the case.
Grant told Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne exclusively that the suspect used Henderson’s credit or debit card at a nearby gas station after the two teens were killed.
“There were two crime scenes," Grant said. "We were able to identify one phone number to both scenes.”
Winne asked Grant about a motive and all the chief would say is investigators are still exploring a possible pre-crimes connection between the suspect and one or both of the victims.
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He said he couldn’t go into the details of the investigation but that it is one of the aspects investigators are examining.
Grant told Winne his investigators hit the homicide case hard, fast and thoroughly.
“From the time the bodies were found, until the time we had the suspect in custody, it was less than 48 hours and during that time there were several detectives that either did not sleep or only slept for just a few hours,” Grant said.
Grant said if the allegations are true, technology tripped up Hazelwood.
“A cellphone number is unique to a particular user and in this case it led us to the suspect,” Grant said.
The chief told Winne detectives placed one cellphone at two crime scenes -- the murder scene and a convenience store where Hazelwood allegedly used Henderson's credit or debit card -- and that cellphone led directly to Hazlewood.
“Once we identified him, everything just fell into place,” Grant told Winne.
Grant indicated evidence previously gathered fit together, including video showing a vehicle that matched Hazelwood's -- a Honda Passport with damage to the front bumper, repaired with silver tape -- seen in the vicinity of the murders.
“On Wednesday morning we had the suspect under surveillance and the decision was made by officers on the scene to take him into custody and when he was taken into custody, his vehicle was seized,” Grant told Winne.
The chief said material will be tested at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab for possible DNA and more.
Grant said he can't comment on any statement by Hazelwood.
The chief told Winne, even if the victims sneaked out of the house to meet, nothing has surfaced to change his perception that the victims were both fundamentally good kids.
Grant said they’ve executed numerous search warrants on homes, vehicles, cellphones, individuals and also have called in the GBI to assist very early on and he said the Police Department works very closely on cases of this magnitude with the Fulton County District Attorney's Office.