In the early morning hours of March 31, 2022, a sense of unease settled over the apartment complex at 801 Selvidge Street in Dalton, Georgia. Inside his residence, 62-year-old Kenneth Ray Townsend's life was about to be tragically cut short. A call to 911 at 2:51 a.m. reported that a man had been shot. When Dalton Police Department officers arrived, they found Townsend suffering from gunshot wounds to his arm and chest. He was rushed by ambulance to Hamilton Medical Center, but the efforts to save him were unsuccessful, and he died shortly after his arrival. Before he passed, Townsend was only able to tell an officer that a 'Black guy' had shot him and would not provide any other information.
The investigation into the shooting death of the man affectionately known as 'Old Man' began immediately. Initial information pointed towards a Black male wearing a black hooded sweatshirt who had fled the scene before law enforcement's arrival. Investigators diligently followed multiple leads in the days that followed. Their efforts soon identified a suspect, 19-year-old Gabriel Mekel Adams of Cohutta. Warrants for Adams' arrest were secured on April 2nd, and a search for him ensued. With the assistance of the U.S. Marshal's Office, investigators tracked Adams to Chattanooga, Tennessee. On April 7th, Dalton Police Department investigators, along with U.S. Marshals and Chattanooga Police Department officers, located Adams at a residence on North Orchard Knob Avenue and took him into custody without incident. He was charged with murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault.
As the investigation continued, it was determined that Adams was not alone on the night of the shooting. Detectives discovered that 21-year-old Kyera Deshae Betton was present with Adams during and after the incident. In January 2023, after consultation with the district attorney's office, warrants were issued for her arrest on the same charges as Adams. Betton was arrested without incident at the Dalton Police Services Center. In May 2023, a Whitfield County jury found Gabriel Mekel Adams guilty of the murder and aggravated assault of Kenneth Townsend, as well as the attempted murder of another individual and possession of a firearm during the commission of those crimes. The jury found him not guilty of felony murder and a separate aggravated assault charge. His sentencing was scheduled for later that month.
