A man wanted for a deadly double shooting on Valentine's Day has been nabbed by authorities, officials reported. The suspect, Javoka Shumaker, 44, was captured by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit and Georgia State Patrol SWAT, following the incident that claimed the life of one person and left another critically injured.
Shumaker, who was apprehended at an apartment complex in Lithonia, is accused of shooting Paul Smith and Jennifer Mullins on Embacadero Drive, an event that unfolded tragically in the presence of a child. According to FOX 5 Atlanta, Smith did not survive his injuries. Shumaker is believed to have known the victims prior to the attack.
The authorities have charged Shumaker with Murder-Malice, Aggravated Assault Weapon, and Cruelty to Children in the First Degree. He was taken without incident to the DeKalb County Jail where, he is being held without bond.
A neighbor, Julie Almond recounted the morning of the tragedy to reporters. "It sounded about four or five, and I heard a female screaming," Almond told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. DeKalb County police were summoned to the Windward Forest Apartments shortly before 6 a.m. on February 14, after reports of the gunfire appeared on their radar. They discovered two victims with gunshot wounds at the scene, and while one was declared dead, the other was taken to a hospital in critical condition, though no update on their health status has been released since then.
As the case proceeds, Shumaker faces a grim legal path ahead, charged heavily for the Valentine's Day violence that shook the Lithonia community. With the charges pending, the DeKalb County legal system will seek to provide justice for the victims of this tragic event.
