Police say the apparent target of a home invasion on Saturday in which an 11-year-old and a 15-year-old were killed near Atlanta was in Chattanooga.
The Clayton County Police Department held a press conference on Tuesday on the Libby Lane home invasion that resulted in the murder of 11-year-old Tatiyana Coates and 15-year-old Daveon Coates.
Chief Michael Register said the Clayton County Police Department has been working closely with the Chattanooga Police Department and the FBI Safe Streets Division in an attempt to solve the case.
He said, "We believe that the individuals responsible for the crime are involved in a Metro-Atlanta gang. The mother of Tatiyana and Daveon Coates allowed one of her friends and her five children to recently move into her home. A 15-year-old who was one of the children that recently came to live at the address got involved in some gang activity while he was in Georgia. We believe that while the 15-year-old was here, he committed an act against a local gang which caused them to retaliate in a vicious manner.
" We have information that members of the gang possibly went to the home on Libby Lane the day before the home invasion occurred in search of the 15-year-old. We pulled together a number of resources to investigate this crime and the information that we have obtained has lead us to Chattanooga.
"Based on information we uncovered, we believed that the 15-year-old that we were seeking was in Chattanooga. Sometime around 4 p.m., on Sunday, we received information that there was a report of a gang-related shooting that occurred in Chattanooga.
"It appears that one of the local gangs that we believe to have been involved in the murders of Tatiyana and Daveon Coates, traveled to Chattanooga and were involved in that shooting there as well.
"We had been looking diligently for the 15-year-old who fled the area and have recently located him in Tennessee and we have him in custody. We feel that the 15-year-old is a critical element in the case and we also want to ensure his safety. Until we find those who are responsible for the crime, we will continue to dedicate our resources to this case."