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Police Seek 4th Suspect in Killing of Morehouse Student

By Ashley Hindsman
Black College Wire

Photo credit: Family photo Carlnell Walker was tortured before his death.

While slain Morehouse student Carlnell James Walker Jr. was being buried in his hometown of Richmond, Calif., on July 21, police in Atlanta held a news conference announcing the arrests of three suspects in the killing of the sophomore business major.

One current and two former Morehouse students were arrested and charged in Walker's slaying, while police said a fourth suspect, a non-student in his 30s identified as Theodore Paul Holliman, also known as Rahim Muhammad, remains at large.

Theodore Paul Holliman

Clayton County, Ga., Police Capt. Chris Butler said Walker, 23, was killed over $3,000 in insurance money he was anticipating as an accident settlement. He had yet to receive the money, Butler said at the news conference.

Breylon Wendell Garland

Walker was tortured and beaten in his home in Riverdale, an Atlanta suburb, police said, as his attackers tried to get him to say where the money was hidden. They poured a flammable liquid over him after he was bound and gagged, beaten, stomped, stabbed and left for dead in the trunk of his car, which was parked in the garage, they said. The date of the killing was unknown.

Walker's decayed body was found on July 8 after his mother called Atlanta police saying she had not heard from her son in two weeks. Her name and location were not released.

Miles Jonathan Allen

The suspects "got away with about 20 bucks," Butler said.

Three of the suspects, Breylon Wendell Garland of College Park, Ga., 20, Miles Jonathan Allen of Atlanta, 21, and Keith Jerome Roberts Jr., 22, also of Atlanta, were arrested over three days. Allen is a current student; Garland and Roberts are former students.

Kevin Rome, Morehouse vice president of student affairs, said at the news conference, "This is very unusual, atypical of Morehouse College and its students."

Keith Jerome Roberts Jr.

"We are in mourning with the family, and we are grieving with the family," he said.

Campus police tightened security in an effort to protect students and to find the fourth suspect.

Walker was described by close friends as being deep into his studies and a rap-music fan who dreamed of becoming a music producer. The three in custody are charged with murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, kidnapping and false imprisonment. They are being held without bond in Clayton County jail, awaiting a preliminary hearing that has yet to be scheduled, the Clayton County captain said.

Ashley Hindsman is a student at Albany State University and a Black College Wire summer intern.

Posted July 26, 2006