A man found dead inside a Stonecrest condominium complex earlier this month has been identified as 63-year-old Baird Woodfin, according to the DeKalb County Medical Examiner's Office. DeKalb County Police had responded to the 80 block of Place Fontaine on October 9 at 2:02 p.m., where officers found Woodfin's body, and his cause of death remains under investigation.
The identification came on October 10, a day after police first disclosed the discovery, as reported by FOX 5 Atlanta. Investigators have not said whether they suspect foul play, and it remains unclear whether anyone is currently being questioned, according to the DeKalb County Police Department's official statement. The DeKalb County Medical Examiner's Office responded to the scene to assist police and is still working to determine how Woodfin died.
Beyond identifying Woodfin, 11Alive reported that crime scene investigators wearing hazmat suits were seen entering a townhome at the Place Fontaine complex as part of the death investigation. The station's report did not elaborate on why the hazmat gear was necessary, but such equipment is standard for technicians entering scenes that could be contaminated or biohazardous.
Why Police Treat Every Unattended Death as a Potential Case
The response from homicide and forensic units, even before any sign of foul play, traces back to department policy. Under DeKalb County Police Department Standard Operating Procedure Policy 402.8, officers must approach any unattended death not under direct medical care as a potential homicide, which mandates immediate scene isolation, according to DeKalb County Government. That protocol is the same one Hoodline detailed in an August case involving a body found in a Decatur driveway.
State law reinforces that caution. The Georgia Death Investigation Act mandates formal death inquiries and autopsies whenever a person dies suddenly, unexpectedly, without a physician present, or under suspicious circumstances, per the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Once an autopsy and toxicology results are complete, medical examiners in Georgia classify a death into one of five legal manners: natural, accidental, homicide, suicide, or undetermined, the GBI notes. That classification will ultimately determine whether a criminal case is opened in Woodfin's death.
Authorities have not released additional details about Woodfin beyond his name and age. Next-of-kin notification practices vary by jurisdiction, and local law may govern the process.
A Complex With a Violent History
This is not the first time Place Fontaine has drawn a major police response. The complex was previously the site of a March 2022 fatal shooting during an alleged gun transaction, which resulted in a murder charge against a 19-year-old Stonecrest resident, according to FOX 5 Atlanta's earlier reporting. That 2022 shooting took place inside a unit on Place Fontaine.
Countywide, the picture looks somewhat different. DeKalb County Police reported recording 91 homicides in 2025, dropping below 100 annually for the first time in several years, while maintaining a 76.9% clearance rate, department leadership told a county public safety committee in March, per Citizen Portal. Stonecrest itself, incorporated in 2016, has a population of over 60,000 and is the largest municipality situated entirely within DeKalb County, spanning nearly 38 square miles in the county's southeastern corner, according to the Georgia Municipal Association. DeKalb County Police handled the investigation into Woodfin's death.
Woodfin's death is the latest in a string of recent DeKalb County cases Hoodline has followed, including an infant found dead on Eastwyck Circle earlier this month. No arrests have been announced in Woodfin's case, and the DeKalb County Medical Examiner's Office has not yet determined a cause of death.
