Mom, Aunt of Teen Suspect in Georgia Baby Slaying Arrested
Aunt told reporter murder suspect was with family at the time of the killing.
Mar 26, 2013— -- The mother and aunt of De'Marquise Elkins, a suspect in the shooting that killed a 1-year-old Georgia boy, have been arrested on charges of giving police false information.
Karimah Aisha Elkins, 36, the suspect's mother, and Katrina Latrelle Elkins, 33, the suspect's aunt, were in Glynn County Police custody earlier this morning, according to the police department. Both women have posted bond.
New information also led police to a handgun that may have been used in the shooting.
"We arrested [the women] last night and brought them back to headquarters, where we afforded them the opportunity to make additional statements," Chief Matt Doering of the Glynn County Police told The Associated Press Tuesday. "That information led us to other witnesses ... [who] led us to an area where the gun was disposed of."
The two women are facing felony charges for providing false statements or writings. Doering would not say what false statements either woman made.
The Glynn County Police would not give ABC News any additional information on the women's arrests.
De'Marquise Elkins, 17, and a 15-year-old suspect whose name was being withheld because of the suspect's age, were arrested Friday by Brunswick Police on suspicion of involvement with the Thursday morning shooting and have been charged with first degree murder.
After those arrests, Katrina Latrelle Elkins told the Associated Press that her nephew couldn't have been at the scene of the murder because he was at her house for breakfast Thursday morning and then ran errands with her family when the baby and his mother were shot.
"He was with us the whole time," the aunt told The AP on Saturday. "There is no doubt in my mind that he is innocent."
Sherry West, the 41-year-old mother of the child, told police she'd been walking her 13-month-old son, Antonio Santiago, in a stroller through their Brunswick, Ga., neighborhood when two African-American boys approached her and demanded money. When she told them she didn't have any money, West said one of the boys pulled out a handgun.
"He said, 'I'm going to kill you if you don't give me money,' and I said, 'I swear I don't have any,"' West told WAWS-TV in Jacksonville, Fla.
West said she tried to shield her child with her arms, but the gunman shoved her and shot the baby in the head. West was shot in the leg.
