In the late afternoon of Monday, May 17, 2021, a sense of unease settled over the 300 block of Marlborough Downs Road in Athens, Georgia. What began as a transaction arranged online for a dirt bike descended into violence, leaving a local teenager dead. Sixteen-year-old Ashawn Adams, a male from Athens, was found deceased at the scene by Athens-Clarke County Police, the victim of a fatal shooting.
The events of that day unfolded around 5:30 p.m.
when police responded to a call about a person being shot. Upon arrival, they discovered a chaotic scene with a crowd gathered around two individuals with gunshot wounds. One was Ashawn Adams, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The other was 21-year-old Casey Parten of Flowery Branch, who was transported to a local hospital with serious injuries. He succumbed to his wounds two days later. A third individual, Casey's 24-year-old brother Tyler Parten, was also present but was not injured in the exchange of gunfire.
Investigations revealed that the Parten brothers had traveled to Athens to purchase a dirt bike they had seen advertised on Facebook Marketplace by Adams. The meeting was arranged to take place in the Stonehenge subdivision. However, the transaction turned deadly. According to a relative of the Partens, the sale was a setup, and trouble began almost immediately upon their arrival. The interaction between the parties escalated to an exchange of gunfire.
Despite the tragic outcome, the investigation into the double homicide has not yet led to any arrests. The Athens-Clarke County Police Department has not publicly identified any suspects or a definitive motive for the shooting. Investigators have appealed to the public for any information regarding the incident, hoping to piece together the final moments of Ashawn Adams's and Casey Parten's lives and bring a resolution to a case that began with the promise of a simple sale and ended in a devastating loss for two families.
