A 33-year-old man was shot and killed early Sunday on Thumpa Avenue in east Athens. Tre Foster was shot around 12:06 a.m. in the 150 block of Thumpa Avenue, at the Clarke Gardens apartment complex, and later died after being taken to a hospital. Twenty-four-year-old Kendrick Faust was arrested on October 11 and charged with malice murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Athens-Clarke County Police have not said what led to the shooting or offered a potential motive, according to Atlanta News First. Police spokesperson Lt. Katie Jenkins told Now Georgia that authorities have not publicly released details on what triggered the gunfire or whether it was connected to any prior dispute.
The location carries heavy local weight. Foster was previously arrested in March 2020 by Athens-Clarke County Police in connection with a July 2019 shooting at the very same Clarke Gardens complex, a case that killed 24-year-old pregnant bystander Auriel Callaway, according to Classic City News. In September 2020, the Western Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office formally charged Foster in Clarke County Superior Court with reckless conduct and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, alleging he fired a gun into the air during that 2019 altercation.
A Street Named for the First Victim
Thumpa Avenue, the street where Foster was shot, was officially named during a December 2021 ceremony at Clarke Gardens in memory of Callaway, who went by the nickname “Thumpa,” per the same outlet's photo archive. The street-naming was meant to honor a young mother whose death had rattled the complex two years earlier — making Foster's killing on that same block a grim echo of the violence he was once accused of contributing to.
Clarke Gardens has faced scrutiny well beyond this single case. The complex's owner and management were named in an October 2021 wrongful death lawsuit alleging inadequate security and maintenance had turned the property into a high-risk area for persistent gun violence, according to a report from the Atlanta law office that filed the suit. The 100 block of Thumpa Avenue specifically has seen repeated firearm investigations, including separate non-fatal shootings in March 2023 and June 2023 that each left victims with life-threatening injuries, per Athens-Clarke County Police Department records.
Citywide Crime Down, But Hotspots Persist
The shooting comes even as overall crime data for Athens-Clarke County showed a broad decline across major categories in 2025 compared with the prior year, according to WSB-TV. Still, gun violence has remained a persistent, concentrated problem in certain pockets of the city. An Athens-Clarke County Police Department Gang Unit presentation found that between January 2021 and early 2024, the municipality recorded 436 shootings, 2,925 recovered shell casings, and 148 people shot.
If convicted, Faust would face serious exposure under Georgia law. A murder conviction under O.C.G.A. § 16-5-1 carries statutory penalties of death, life imprisonment without parole, or life imprisonment with the possibility of parole, according to the Georgia Code.
The investigation remains ongoing, and Faust was arrested on October 11 and charged with malice murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Athens has grappled with gun violence in recent months.
