Suspect accused of killing 3 people in several Atlanta suburbs dies in jail

Chatham County Sheriff's Office/AP via CNN Newsource

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. -- A man accused of killing three people, including a Department of Homeland Security employee, in a shooting rampage across several Atlanta suburbs last week has died in custody, authorities said.

Olaolukitan Adon-Abel, 26, was found unresponsive in his jail cell around 6:48 p.m. Tuesday. Detention staff tried to save him, but he was pronounced dead about half an hour later, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

“There is no indication of criminal activity or foul play,” the statement said. The sheriff’s office is reviewing the circumstances surrounding the death, and the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office is trying to determine the cause and manner of death, Deputy Chief Investigator Jess Dillard said.

“This investigation will take some time, as we need a lot more information before we make a determination,” Dillard told CNN on Wednesday.

The suspect was accused of killing 31-year-old Prianna Weathers, 48-year-old Tony Matthews and 40-year-old DHS auditor Lauren Bullis in three different locations miles away from one another the morning of April 13. The motive for the attacks remains unclear.

The triple shooting sparked intense criticism from DHS, which blamed the previous administration for allowing Adon-Abel – a native of the United Kingdom – to become a US citizen in 2022.


A gruesome morning


The inexplicable rampage started shortly before 1 a.m., when Weathers was gunned down near a restaurant in Decatur. Her 12-year-old son is now left to grow up without his mother.

About an hour later, Matthews was shot multiple times near a grocery store in Brookhaven, about 15 miles northwest. The victim, who had a baby girl and three stepchildren, was the type of person who would help anyone, his sister-in-law told CNN.

And shortly before 7 a.m., Bullis was shot and stabbed while walking her French bulldog in Panthersville, more than 10 miles away from where Matthews was shot. Bullis was a DHS auditor, avid runner and world traveler who became fast friends with anyone she met, loved ones said.


Feds cite criminal record, but crimes may have occurred after citizenship


DHS said Adon-Abel was previously convicted of several crimes, including sexual battery and assault with a deadly weapon. It accused the Biden administration of allowing a “monster” to become naturalized in 2022.

But DHS would not say whether those crimes happened before or after the suspect became a US citizen. The Department of Justice described convictions in 2025, years after the suspect was naturalized.

Court records show a defendant listed as Adon Olaolukitan – who has the same birth date as the suspect – pleaded guilty to four counts of misdemeanor sexual battery for a 2025 incident in Georgia. He was sentenced to 48 months of probation.

Another court filing shows a defendant named “Olaolukitan Adonabel” pleaded guilty to a 2024 felony assault with a deadly weapon “other than a firearm on a Police officer or firefighter” in California. The record notes the suspect’s name may also appear as Olaolukitan Adon Abel or Adon Olaolukitan.

The records show a few other charges, but those cases were dismissed.

Before his death, Adon-Abel’s charges included malice murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to the Justice Department.

A tracing analysis linked the firearm to Damon Marquis Yarns, a homeless man who allegedly told authorities he purchased a firearm for a man he identified in a photo array as Adon-Abel, the Justice Department said. Yarns also faces a federal firearms charge.

While Adon-Abel’s death ends the charges against him, it also means some answers might never be known.

“His death denies him the opportunity to contest the charges against him in court,” the Georgia Public Defender Council said in a statement.

“We also regret that the families, friends, and colleagues of the victims may now be left without the fuller answers a public legal process might have provided about how these deaths occurred. That is a painful and sobering reality for everyone affected.”

CNN’s Ryan Young and Taylor Romine and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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