Police Catch Suspect in Fatal Shooting Near Athens Nightclub

An Atlanta man wanted for the May double shooting that killed one innocent bystander and wounded another near an Athens nightclub has been arrested.

The Athens-Clarke County Police Department said Corey Antwan Blount, 33, is facing charges of felony murder, malice murder, two counts of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during commission of a crime and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Blount also was wanted in Fulton County on unrelated criminal charges.

Blount was apprehended on July 9 by members of the U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force and the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, according to the ACCPD.

Blount was charged in connection with the May 10, 2014 shootings in a vacant parking lot on Commerce Road after closing time at nearby Bootleggers nightclub. Derrick Merritt and Jamaris Walter, both of Athens, were shot around 2:40 a.m. as they were standing among other patrons in the parking lot. Merritt died at an Athens hospital; Walter was hospitalized in serious condition, and is still recovering.

“Information obtained clearly indicates that the victims were innocent bystanders and played no role in triggering the assault,” Athens police said in a news release.

Investigators encourage anyone with additional information regarding this case to call the Athens-Clarke County Police Department’s Crime Stoppers Tip Line at 706-613-3342.