By Mark Woolsey

[The Cobb County Courier has a policy of withholding or redacting the name of suspects unless and until the person is convicted in a court of law or enters a plea of guilty. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty, and the internet has no effective way of removing reports of arrest if the person is exonerated. We do make exceptions in high-profile cases or charges against public officials where exoneration is likely to be as widely publicized as the initial arrest]

Cherokee County sheriff’s detectives have made an arrest in the fatal shooting of a Kell High School student that took place in 2021.

The agency says a 22-year-old Mableton man was arrested and charged with murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, cruelty to children 1st degree, and a violation of the Street Gang Terrorism Act.

The shooting happened Oct. 17, 2021 at a large house party on Victoria Road near Lake Allatoona. First responders found 14-year-old Landon Andrews, a freshman at Kell High School, with a gunshot wound at the scene. He was rushed to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital and later pronounced dead.

Detectives say that despite a large number of people attending the party, nobody came forward with information on Andrews’ killing. They say they did get new information in recent weeks that led them to Simmons, who was picked up on Sunday. He’s being held in the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center without bond.

Sheriff’s Captain Jay Baker told the Courier an earlier arrest was made of another partygoer who was accused of firing a weapon as he sped away from the party. He says the gunshots didn’t strike anyone.