Secoriea Turner was killed on the evening of July 4, 2020, when Julian Conley, a juvenile gang member, reportedly “began to discharge his weapon, striking the side and back of the vehicle” the young girl was in, according to the affidavit. Turner was struck in the head and pronounced dead at the hospital after the automobile she in was chased off the road by another gang member named Jerrion McKinney.
Conley, 19, was arrested less than two weeks after the shooting. He was charged with murder and three counts of aggravated assault. McKinney, 24, was arrested last week and charged with murder, four counts of aggravated assault, and 12 other gang-related crimes.
Last summer, an “autonomous zone” in Atlanta was reportedly being run by violent gang members. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, gang members besieged a local Wendy’s to protest the death of Rayshard Brooks. They created an “autonomous zone” with a strict no-trespassing policy for police officers or pedestrians and allegedly killed an eight-year-old girl named Secoriea Turner.
According to a Fulton County arrest warrant for one of the men wanted for the murder of Turner, the gang established a perimeter around the Wendy’s under the guise of protesting police brutality. With armed rogue members, they declared control of the territory by “brandishing, pointing, and discharging firearms at citizens and civilians to ensure compliance with their authority in a highly visible manner.”
In June, Turner’s family sued the city of Atlanta, its mayor, other city officials, and Wendy’s International. They allege that the child’s life was put in danger by allowing a violent gang of delinquents to occupy and terrorize an Atlanta street corner.
According to the lawsuit, the city is accused of being “negligent in their duties by failing to remove armed vigilantes who had gathered alongside peaceful protesters at the Wendy’s where Rayshard Brooks was shot and killed.” The burned-out building was demolished entirely 10 days after Turner was murdered.
Rayshard Brooks, the alleged reason for the occupation, was shot and killed by Atlanta Police Officer Garrett Rolfe in June of 2020, shortly after the death of George Floyd. The shooting of Brooks compounded the already high tensions in the country. The Daily Mail reported that Brooks was a member of the Bloods street gang that later laid siege to the Atlanta Wendy’s where he was shot. The family of Brooks claims they did not know of Rayshard’s gang affiliations.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis recently said, “we have a gang problem in Fulton County and the metro area surrounding it. And the gang violence is harming people to include children. We’re taking it very seriously… and we’re taking a tough stance on it.”
Last year’s shooting of Brooks led to increased calls to “defund the police” however, this year, the Atlanta Police Department’s budget was increased by 7% following a spike in violent crime.
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