By Mark Woolsey

One arrest has been made, and more may come in the killing of a 9-month-old girl at a Cumberland-area hotel.

Police say they were called to the Budgetel Inn in the 4900 block of Circle 75 Parkway, north of Truist Park, shortly after 8 p.m. last night and were met by a woman who said that her baby had been struck by gunfire. Authorities say the child couldn’t be revived and was later pronounced dead at the scene.

Major Crimes Unit investigators identified a 22-year-old man as a suspect in the case. He’s been charged with felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The suspect’s been booked into the Cobb Adult Detention Center and Is being held without bond.

A police spokesperson told the Courier that they’re still working to sort out various aspects of the case, including what led up to the gunfire and whether shots were fired from inside or outside of the room.

Police spokesman Sgt. Eric Smith says more arrests are expected as detectives continue to work the homicide. They’re asking anyone with additional information to call the Major Crimes Unit at 770-499-3945.

[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]

About the Major Crimes Unit

The Crimes Against Persons Division of the Cobb County Police Department is part of the Major Crimes Unit, and 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 which 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.”

The commander of the Major Crimes Unit is Capt. Matt Brown, and the Crimes Against Persons Unit is commanded by Lt. Tim Nelson.