In the early morning hours of November 2, 2019, the quiet of a Norcross, Georgia townhouse community was broken by the sound of gunfire. When Gwinnett County police responded to a call about a person shot at a residence on Beaver Springs Lane around 4:45 a.m., they discovered a tragic scene. Inside, they found two men, 55-year-old Derrick Dennis and his 30-year-old nephew, Josh Dennis, both deceased from gunshot wounds. The incident was immediately investigated as a double homicide. Derrick Dennis was a Black male.
Investigators quickly identified a suspect in the slayings: Karlton Sirmons, a 30-year-old from Norcross. Murder warrants were issued for Sirmons, who was considered armed and dangerous. The U.S. Marshals Service joined the search, elevating it to a 'major case' and offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to his capture. Authorities revealed that Sirmons had a history of violent crime, with outstanding warrants for aggravated assault in multiple counties. For months, Sirmons remained a fugitive, evading law enforcement.
The manhunt for Karlton Sirmons came to an end on January 24, 2020. In a joint operation involving U.S. Marshals, Gwinnett County Sheriff's deputies, and police from both Gwinnett County and Atlanta, Sirmons was arrested without incident at a home on Ruzelle Drive in Atlanta. He was taken into custody and booked into the Gwinnett County Jail, where he was held without bond. Sirmons was charged with two counts of felony murder and two counts of aggravated assault in connection with the deaths of Derrick and Josh Dennis.
The legal proceedings that followed, however, did not result in the outcome the victims' family had hoped for. In 2022, a Gwinnett County jury acquitted Karlton Sirmons of the murder charges. The acquittal came despite law enforcement testimony that Sirmons was found with the alleged murder weapon two months after the killings. A relative of the Dennis family expressed profound disappointment with the prosecution of the case, suggesting the attorney was unprepared. The defense attorney for Sirmons stated that the verdict came down to the credibility of the main witness in the eyes of the jury.
