On the afternoon of April 11, 2023, a brazen attack at a busy Atlanta transit station claimed the life of Charles Madison Perkins. A 20-year-old Black man from Douglasville, Georgia, Charles was in the concourse area of the Ashby MARTA station around 4:30 p.m. when he was ambushed. The incident, which unfolded in broad daylight just before the turnstiles, brought the city's East-West transit line to a halt.
According to MARTA police, the attack appeared to be coordinated and involved
multiple individuals. Security footage showed a suspect approaching Charles, which led to a physical altercation. During the struggle, a gunshot was fired, and Charles was thrown to the ground. He was found lying face down and, despite the immediate arrival of emergency responders, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation relied heavily on surveillance video from the station, which captured suspects fleeing on foot before getting into a waiting vehicle. This evidence led to a breakthrough that same month, when authorities arrested 21-year-old Davis Edmond of Ellenwood. Warrants indicated that Edmond was not the shooter but was accused of acting as the getaway driver, transporting at least two suspects away from the Ashby station after the killing.
Seven months later, authorities made a second arrest in the case. In November 2023, Resean Lee Martin was taken into custody and booked into the Fulton County Jail. According to arrest warrants, Martin is accused of “knowingly and intentionally” causing the death of Charles Perkins.
Known to friends and family as “Perk,” Charles had attended Westlake High School. A funeral service was held for him on April 20, 2023, at Cascade Midtown in Atlanta, and he was laid to rest at Westview Cemetery. As of the arrest of the second suspect in November 2023, the case was proceeding through the court system.
