Murder suspect found hidden in kitchen cabinet that was screwed shut
Georgia teen Ter’ryon Martin has been charged with murder after Kelvin Church was shot dead
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A teenage fugitive facing murder charges was found hiding inside a cabinet that had been screwed shut, police said.
Ter’ryon Martin, 19, from Pelham, Georgia, was arrested Tuesday and faces charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during a felony.
He had been wanted for the alleged homicide of Kelvin Church, 17, who was shot at the intersection of Furlow and Jester Street in Camilla around midday October 30, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
After an extensive manhunt that included the deployment of the U.S. Marshals, the Camilla Police Department and the Mitchell County Sheriff’s Office, the suspect was found.
Authorities located Martin at a home in the 4000 block of Back Nine Road in Pelham in an unusual hiding place: inside a “kitchen cabinet that had been screwed shut,” the GBI said in a statement Thursday.
His 39-year-old father, Terry Martin, was also arrested and charged with one felony count of hindering the apprehension of a fugitive. Both defendants were booked into Mitchell County Jail, the CGI said.
It is unclear whether Martin opted to be in the cabinet and whether the door had been barricaded from within or outside.
Church died on November 5, six days after the incident, after being taken to the Grady Memorial Hospital.
The GBI Crime Lab, which conducted the autopsy, has not released information about Church’s death. The motivation for the shooting remain unclear.
An investigation is still ongoing, which, once complete, the case file will be given to the South Georgia Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
The GBI considered Martin as “armed and dangerous” before he was arrested. His identity was revealed to the public last month.
The Independent has contacted the U.S. Marshals, GBI and Mitchell County Sheriff’s Office for more information.