A man wanted for nearly seven years in a deadly Atlanta house party shooting was arrested Wednesday after officers found him working under a fake name at a livestock auction facility in Roanoke, Alabama. Ashton Reed, 29, had evaded capture for nearly seven years.
The Roanoke Police Department received an anonymous tip that led officers to the Roanoke Stockyard, where Reed had reportedly taken a job under an alias, according to a 1819 News report. The tip and arrest were also detailed in a post from the Roanoke Police Department’s Facebook page, which announced the capture of one of Atlanta’s most wanted suspects on September 16. The stockyard was where Reed reportedly worked.
Reed had been hiding in plain sight. He was found working at a livestock auction facility in Roanoke, Alabama, where officers arrested him.
A House Party That Turned Deadly
Atlanta police say the shooting happened on March 31, 2019, at what began as a house party. Per the same 1819 News account, at least five people were shot and one person was killed. The violence unfolded around 10:30 p.m. at the Hidden Village apartments on Landrum Drive SW in southwest Atlanta, where an initial fight between two large groups reignited an hour later into gunfire that left at least five people shot and one person killed, as previously reported by WSB-TV Channel 2.
Four other young men, ages 17 to 20, were wounded in the shooting. Three of the victims drove to a gas station for help, WSB-TV Channel 2 reported at the time.
The man killed, 27-year-old Tyriq Cornell Livatt, was listed as having attended Booker T. Washington High School and worked as a security guard, according to the National Gun Violence Memorial.
A Troubled Address With a History of Violence
The apartment complex where Livatt was killed, listed at 3041 Landrum Drive SW and later renamed Woodlands at Cascade, has drawn scrutiny well beyond this single case. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation into what it called “Dangerous Dwellings” identified the property as one of 272 persistently dangerous complexes.
Renewed Reward Push Preceded the Tip
The case had gone cold for years before it heated back up. Atlanta police publicized the search for Reed and called him “armed and dangerous,” according to WSB-TV Channel 2.
Extradition and Charges Ahead
Following his arrest, Reed was transported to the Randolph County Jail to await extradition back to Georgia, per 1819 News.
Once back in Georgia, Reed is expected to face charges that include felony murder, aggravated battery, four counts of aggravated assault, and six counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, the outlet reported. As with any defendant, Reed is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
