When news broke on March 21st about the shooting of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago in Georgia, residents were shocked beyond words. The fact that someone would shoot a baby intentionally is horrific alone; yet, the incident worsens as the investigation reveals more details as well as arrests that are being made.
Two teenagers, one 17-year-old and one 15-year-old, were arrested for the murder of the baby that happened in broad daylight. As the investigation continues, three more arrests were made in connection to the shooting.
The arrests were the 17-year-old’s mother, aunt and sister on different charges alleging that they have somehow hindered the process of the investigation. With the case grabbing national headlines as well as details sounding like a movie mystery, a new twist was added as a local politician was taken into custody, making the number of arrests associated with the case reaching six.
According to the Glynn County Sheriff’s Office, 59-year-old Brunswick City Commissioner James Henry Brooks was arrested as he is accused of obstructing law enforcement in the investigation and influencing a witness. Authorities say that the local official is being held in jail as he waits to make an appearance in court.
Alan Tucker, attorney for the commissioner, spoke with reporters on Friday and said that Brooks wasn’t trying at all to interfere with the ongoing investigation. Tucker said, “What he was trying to do, at the point and time that he was approached here at the courthouse, was just tell these folks you have a right to remain silent, don’t talk to police unless you have an attorney present, and I think that was the crux (of) what caused the problem.”
According to an NBC affiliate of WTLV, the charges are a result of an incident that happened at the courthouse on Monday where Brooks’ allegedly made an attempt to block a county investigator from speaking with one of the suspects of the case, the mother of De’Marquis Elkins. The Florida Times-Union reported that Brooks was also indicted in neighboring Camden County earlier Thursday on unrelated racketeering charges. The paper reported that the local official was charged with influencing others in the local government as well as taking money from 2009 to 2011.
The commissioner released a statement through Tucker later on Friday morning in which he was “trying to protect the rights of his constituents.” Also, the statement contained information that Brooks did not know that police alleged that two individuals that had some involvement in the case were lying to the authorities.
Sherry West, the mother of the baby who was killed, said that she was approached by two teenagers in the street as she was walking with her baby. One of the teen’s pointed a gun at West and said that if she didn’t give him her money he would shoot her and then her child. The mother said the teen fired at her and barely missed hitting her in the head but shot her in the leg. West said then the teen shot her baby in the face.
Authorities have named the teenagers as 17-year-old De’Marquise Elkins and 15-year-old Dominique Lang, in which both of them have been charged with murder. As the investigation continued, three of Elkins’ family members were arrested on different charges as authorities alleges that each hindered in some manner of the investigation.
The Glynn County Sheriff’s Office said that Sabrina Elkins, De’Marquise’s 19-year-old sister, was arrested on an evidence tampering charge. It was released Wednesday that she was named in a grand jury indictment where Sabrina is accused of helping her mother dispose of the gun that police feel was used to kill Antonio Santiago. What her alleged role was in disposing of the gun has not been revealed by authorities, though the weapon was recovered in a pond 2.3 miles away from the shooting.
The other two women indicted by the grand jury were 36-year-old Karimah Aisha Elkins, his mother, and 33-year-old Katrina Latrelle Elkins, his aunt, on different things besides charges of making false statements or writings. Despite the other charges, none of the women have been accused in the involvement of the actual shooting.
The grand jury was also responsible in naming Lang and De’Marquise Elkins as being involved in the actual shooting. Elkins is being charged with felony murder and malice, as well other charges while Lang is being charged with felony murder. Even though Lang is a minor, he has been identified by media such as CNN because media in the community have been reporting his name since his arrest as well as the fact that he is being charged as an adult.
Doering commented that one possibility for the shooting might be gang related and they are looking into it. He said, “That’s being explored, whether a gang involvement was part of this,” he said. “And that’s all that I can say right now.” Also, he declined to say if any more arrests were possible but did say that investigators were searching for evidence and working leads.
Police described West’s account of the shooting and said that one of the young men pointed a gun at her and said, “‘Give me your money or I’m going to kill you and I’m going to shoot your baby and kill your baby.’” West continued by saying that one of the boys tried to grab her purse when she told them she had no money, opened fire and grazed her head while shooting her in the leg. The boy then shot the baby and West made an effort to resuscitate her child while bystanders called 911 for help.
City official arrested in baby shooting case
The acting mayor of Brunswick, Georgia was charged with influencing a witness and obstruction the investigation.