In the winter of 2017, the life of a young Atlanta man was tragically cut short. Twenty-year-old Sammy Watson was found deceased on the evening of Saturday, February 4th, in a large, open field behind the former Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School on Hosea L. Williams Drive. He had been fatally shot. Family members who gathered at the scene were devastated, having been with him shortly before the incident occurred.
He did not live far from where his body was discovered.
The Atlanta Police Department responded to reports of gunshots in the vicinity of the Edgewood Court Apartments on Hardee Street. Their investigation led them to the discovery of Watson's body. The area was expansive, described as being the size of two adjacent football fields, which presented a challenge for the initial search for evidence and the perpetrator. Law enforcement utilized K-9 units and a helicopter to scour the area, where they found spent cartridges and casings near the victim. In the immediate aftermath, police had no witnesses and publicly appealed for anyone with information to come forward.
A break in the case came just a few days later. On February 8th, a 17-year-old named Jeremy Hogens was arrested in connection with the shooting. Hogens, who lived at the nearby Edgewood Court Apartments, was subsequently charged with the murder of Sammy Watson. Following his arrest, he was held in the DeKalb County jail without bond. The investigation continued as the community mourned the loss of the young man, with a celebration of his life held on February 18, 2017.
