In the English Avenue neighborhood of northwest Atlanta, a sense of unease settled on the evening of Wednesday, April 16, 2025. Just after 6 p.m., police and medical personnel were called to an apartment building on Sunset Avenue NW, where they discovered the body of 51-year-old Craighton Thomas, a male who had sustained multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene, leaving a community searching for answers.
The area, located just south of Meldrum Street NW, became the center of an intense homicide investigation.
Investigators from the Atlanta Police Department's Homicide Unit began the arduous task of piecing together the events that led to the fatal shooting. While witnesses were present at the scene, details regarding a motive or the circumstances immediately preceding the violence were not readily available. For weeks, the case remained without a public breakthrough, and authorities appealed to the public for any information that might lead to an arrest.
Nearly two months later, a significant development occurred in the case. On Tuesday, June 3, 2025, the Atlanta Police Department, in conjunction with the U.S. Marshals Service, located and arrested a suspect in Stockbridge. The individual taken into custody was identified as 40-year-old Terrell Carithers. He has since been charged with murder, two counts of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in connection with the death of Craighton Thomas. Despite the arrest, a clear motive for the shooting has not yet been released by law enforcement officials.
