JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ala. – A middle-school assistant principal in Alabama is one of four people taken into custody for a 2013 triple homicide that occurred in Georgia, authorities confirmed.
At the time he was arrested on Wednesday, May 8, Keante Harris, 45, was the assistant principal at McAdory Middle School in Jefferson County, Alabama. He faces three counts of malice murder in connection to the homicides that occurred in Union City, Georgia, in January 2013, according to the Clayton County Police Department.
Following his arrest, Harris was placed on administrative leave from the middle school, WBMA-TV reported.
Keante Harris is an assistant principal at McAdory Middle School in Jefferson County, Alabama. The school district said that Harris was placed on administrative leave. (Google Maps)
Three other suspects were taken into custody. The four men were arrested in three different states. Harris’s co-defendants were identified as Kevin Harris, Kenneth Thompson and Darrell Harris. They have all been charged with malice murder. It is unclear whether the three Harris men are related.
Keantre Harris, Kevin Harris, Kenneth Thompson and Darrell Harris were all arrested without incident and charged with three counts each of malice murder. (Clayton County Police Department)
In 2013, a Union City patrol officer located a 2010 Dodge Charger abandoned near Interstate 85. Further probing revealed three deceased individuals were inside the car. They were subsequently identified as Quinones King, 33, Rodney Cottrell, 43, and Cheryl Colquitt-Thompson, 32, reported Fox News Digital.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office said King and Cottrell were found dead from asphyxiation in the back seat of the Charger, while Colquitt-Thompson was discovered in the trunk of the car and died from strangulation, FOX5 Atlanta reported.
According to investigators, all three victims had been tortured and murdered in Clayton County before being dumped in Fulton County.
Law enforcement authorities said the victims were lured to a home on Magnolia Drive in Jonesboro, Georgia, where they were forced inside by gun-wielding suspects. Once the victims were killed, they were loaded into the Charger and driven to Fulton County where the vehicle and bodies were dumped.
It’s unclear what kind of evidence was developed to tie the defendants to the triple homicide.
The Jefferson County School District released a statement last Friday acknowledging the arrest of Keante Harris.
“At this time we still are gathering facts about the specifics of this situation,” the statement obtained by WBMA-TV said. “However, early indications are that the charges are not related to this individual’s employment with Jefferson County Schools.”
