Three teenagers and a 22-year-old man have been arrested and charged with murder in the death of 15-year-old Austin Payne, whose body was found inside a vacant Albany apartment after his mother tracked his phone there. All four suspects were booked into Dougherty County Jail following the arrests.
According to WALB, the Albany Police Department identified Adarious Wallace, 16, Jansquincey Donaldson, 15, Omari Marion, 15, and Detravion Parker, 22, as the four charged in connection with Payne's death. Investigators say they identified the group as allegedly involved after an investigation that included several interviews, and all four were transported to Dougherty County Jail once arrested.
The case began to unfold the morning of Nov. 1, when Payne's mother discovered her son unresponsive inside an abandoned apartment at 810 Cameo Lane, Apartment B, according to earlier reporting from WALB. She had begun searching for him after he failed to return home the night before, and used phone tracking to trace his phone to that address. Albany police officers responded to the 800 block of Cameo Lane after receiving the incident report and found Payne dead inside the home.
Surveillance Footage and a Frantic Call to Mom
Officers were called to the apartment at around 9:51 a.m. that Sunday after Payne's mother found his body on the floor, the station's report states. Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler pronounced Payne dead at the scene around 10:30 a.m. that same morning.
Investigators pieced together a timeline by reviewing surveillance footage and phone records tied to the night before Payne's body was found. That footage showed six individuals walking toward the Cameo Lane apartment around 7:35 p.m. on Oct. 31, per the same account. Roughly half an hour later, at around 8:03 p.m., phone records indicate Payne called his mother to say he had been shot and needed help.
Witnesses Describe Armed Confrontation on a Cut-Through Path
Witnesses told investigators that armed individuals approached a group walking with Payne on a cut-through path, demanded their belongings, and then opened fire, the report notes. Investigators canvassing the scene recovered seven 9mm shell casings. Witnesses also said Payne may have been targeted in an attempted robbery involving a handgun he had recently posted about on social media, though that account remains a witness description rather than a confirmed investigative conclusion.
The Albany Police Department is asking anyone with additional information to contact investigators at 229-431-2100.
A Broader Look at Albany's Homicide Numbers
Payne's death adds to a year in which homicide counts in Albany have actually trended downward compared to 2025. Albany police recorded eight homicides from January through July of this year, compared with 10 during the same period last year, according to data reported by the Albany Herald. Crimes against persons held roughly steady over that span, at 1,200 compared with 1,202 the year before, even as overall calls for service rose about 5.3 percent, to 50,014.
The Albany Herald's analysis also found that reported crimes against property fell 4 percent through July, while crimes against society rose 24.4 percent in the same period, from 172 to 214 incidents. The outlet cautions that these figures, drawn from the National Incident-Based Reporting System, count crimes reported to police rather than all crimes actually committed.
