In the summer of 1979, a dark chapter in Atlanta's history began to unfold with the death of a young boy. Thirteen-year-old Alfred Evans, an African American male, disappeared on July 25, 1979. He was last seen by a young man who gave him a ride to a bus stop on his way to a theater on Peachtree Street. A few days later, on July 28, his body was discovered in a wooded area off Niskey Lake Road in southwest Atlanta, alongside the body of another teenager, Edward Hope Smith.
It took over a year for authorities to officially identify the remains as those of Alfred Evans. The cause of his death was determined to be probable asphyxiation by strangulation.
The discovery of the two boys' bodies marked the beginning of what would become known as the Atlanta Child Murders, a series of killings that gripped the city in fear for two years. During this period, at least 28 children, adolescents, and young adults, mostly African American males, were killed. As the number of victims grew, a special task force was formed, and the FBI eventually joined the investigation. The cases drew national attention and created a climate of fear and anxiety throughout the city.
The investigation into the string of murders eventually led to a suspect named Wayne Williams. While Williams was never charged specifically with the murder of Alfred Evans, Evans's case was considered a 'pattern case' during Williams's trial. Williams was ultimately convicted in 1982 for the murders of two adults, Nathaniel Cater and Jimmy Ray Payne. Following his conviction, law enforcement officials attributed a number of the child murders, including that of Alfred Evans, to Williams, and officially closed the cases. Williams has maintained his innocence. In recent years, there has been a renewed look at the evidence from the Atlanta Child Murders, with the hope that modern technology might provide more definitive answers and bring further closure to the families of the victims.
