One year after pleading guilty in a Savannah groping case, 26-year-old Olaolukitan Adon Abel is now at the center of a sprawling, early-morning crime spree that rattled the Atlanta suburbs and left two women dead and a third victim critically wounded. DeKalb County and Brookhaven investigators say the attacks played out across multiple neighborhoods before state troopers stopped a vehicle in Troup County and took a man into custody. The arrest is now rippling back down I-16, where people in Savannah are revisiting last year’s plea deal and asking whether more could have been done to keep him off the street.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, DeKalb County police say Abel is accused of fatally shooting 40-year-old Lauren Bullis, a Department of Homeland Security auditor, and 31-year-old Prianna Weathers, and of wounding a 49-year-old man outside a Brookhaven Kroger. The outlet reports Abel faces two counts of malice murder, aggravated assault and state firearms charges, and that troopers found ammunition and shell casings in his vehicle after the stop. Prosecutors said they expect to seek additional counts as more evidence is reviewed.
WTOC reporting from Savannah notes that Abel pleaded guilty last year to four misdemeanor counts of sexual battery after separate groping complaints on April 20, 2025, and that he was placed on probation with a county ban as part of his sentence. The recorder’s court judge who accepted the plea told WTOC she had to sentence based on the offenses in front of her and “could not have anticipated the defendant’s subsequent conduct.” Neighbors told the station they were stunned to learn that someone from their block is now accused in the Atlanta attacks.
How investigators linked the scenes
Investigators say a trail of surveillance footage and license-plate-reader data tied the same silver Volkswagen Jetta to multiple crime scenes before Georgia State Patrol troopers finally stopped the car in Troup County, where officers allegedly recovered ammunition and other evidence that matched casings found at one location, according to FOX 5 Atlanta. Police have described the attacks as apparently random while they work to determine whether any of the victims had prior contact with the suspect. Officials say the camera footage and plate-reader hits were crucial in tracking the vehicle and making the arrest.
Federal straw purchase case
Federal agents say the 9mm pistol used in the shootings was traced to a February 20 purchase and that a homeless man, identified in court filings as Damon Marquis Yarns, has been charged with lying on federal forms after allegedly buying the gun for Abel, the ATF and prosecutors told WSB-TV. Prosecutors say Yarns admitted Abel covered a rideshare and gave him money to purchase the firearm, which Yarns then handed over. U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said the federal case highlights the danger of putting guns into the hands of convicted felons.
Legal implications
At the state level, Abel faces two counts of malice murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, charges that carry some of the harshest penalties under Georgia law, according to court records and local outlets. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes that Abel has prior convictions in California and a 2025 Savannah sexual-battery plea that already barred him from legally possessing firearms. With a federal firearms case tied to the alleged straw purchase running in parallel, prosecutors may pursue both the state murder counts and separate federal weapons charges.
Families and neighbors have held prayer walks and memorials as investigators continue collecting evidence and officials prepare their next round of filings. CBS News Atlanta reported that the wounded man later died, bringing the death toll from the spree to three. Abel remains jailed in DeKalb County as local prosecutors and federal authorities coordinate their moves, and officials say more charges could follow as lab work and records come in. The overlapping state and federal cases are expected to shape a complicated pretrial calendar in the weeks ahead.
