On a crisp autumn evening, the excitement of a high school homecoming football game in Fairburn, Georgia, gave way to a scene of violence that claimed the life of 17-year-old Kristofer Hunter on October 3, 2014. A former student of Langston Hughes High School, Hunter had returned to his old stomping grounds to reconnect with friends and soak in the familiar atmosphere of the game.
The night, however, took a tragic turn in the school's parking lot after the game had concluded.
At approximately 10 p.m., as the crowds began to disperse, gunfire erupted, and Hunter was struck. Emergency services were called to the scene, and he was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital, but his injuries proved to be fatal. Friends of the teen, who was a student at McClarin High School in College Park at the time of his death, remembered him as a loving person with a great smile who would never hurt anyone. They disputed rumors that the shooting was gang-related.
The investigation into the shooting, led by the Fulton County school police, quickly identified two suspects. An arrest warrant was issued for 18-year-old Eric Dana Johnson Jr. He subsequently turned himself in to the Fulton County Jail. A second suspect, 19-year-old Antione 'Twon' Stephion Battle, was also identified.
Battle remained at large for a period, and authorities considered him to be armed and dangerous. In January 2015, he was apprehended in Sarasota, Florida, by the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office. Deputies discovered him while investigating an unrelated fatal home invasion. Battle was taken into custody on the outstanding warrants from Georgia, which included a charge of felony murder. He was held in the Sarasota County Jail pending extradition to Georgia.
