Cobb County’s first homicide of the year took place on Sandell Trail in Marietta.yesterday evening.

According to a public information release from Sgt. Wayne Delk of the Cobb County Police Department:

Cobb County officers responded to a call of a person shot at 2180 Sandell Trail in Marietta at approximately 7:53 p.m. on the evening of January 7, 2020. The victim, 36-year-old Omar Grayson of Marietta, was found with a single gunshot to the chest. He was transported to Kennestone Hospital for surgery, but he later succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased later at the hospital.

At the monthly luncheon of the South Cobb Business Association this morning Major Craig Owens, the Precinct 2 commander, said that this is the first homicide in Cobb of 2020.

After reporting a drop in crime in the precinct, Owens said, “We did have our first homicide of the year. It occurred last night in our precinct. What I can say about it is we know the suspect involved in this unfortunate act. We are actively investigating that. And I can pretty much guarantee you we will apprehend that suspect very shortly.”

[Editor’s note: while this is the first reported deliberate homicide, a charge of vehicular homicide due to reckless driving was reported on January 5]

The Cobb County Police Crimes Against Persons detectives are investigating this incident and ask that anyone with information call 770-499-3945 or email cobbpolicecrimetips@cobbcounty.org.

Crimes Against Persons Division

The Crimes Against Persons Division of the Cobb County Police Department is broken down into several specialized units, to investigate homicides, robberies, technology-based crime, domestic violence and stalking, and crimes against children. It has a unit that does crime analysis to identify evidence to help link cases and identify suspects.

The division also houses the Crime Scene Unit that according to the division’s website “is responsible for documenting and processing crime scenes to locate evidence, identify suspects, and to present evidence in criminal proceedings. Crime scene technicians are responsible for processing evidence utilizing a variety of procedures for fingerprint, DNA, and trace evidence.”