On the afternoon of April 16, 2025, a violent confrontation at the Southwinds Point Apartments in Stockbridge, Georgia, left two men dead. Inside his apartment on Evergreen Way, officers found Edward Atkins, a 30-year-old Black man, deceased. The incident brought a tragic end to what began as an attempt to serve a legal warrant.
The events began to unfold around noon when police received calls about suspicious individuals at the apartment complex. Moments later, a series of 911 calls reported the sound of gunfire. When officers arrived at the scene, they discovered the body of 46-year-old Curtis Johnson, a bail recovery agent, outside an apartment. He had been shot to death. Investigators noted multiple shell casings and a blood trail leading from Johnson’s body back into the apartment unit.
Following the trail, officers entered the residence and found Atkins dead from gunshot wounds in a rear bedroom.
It was soon confirmed that Johnson was at the complex as part of a bail recovery team attempting to apprehend Atkins on a warrant. Friends and colleagues described Johnson as a calm, courageous, and experienced professional who was a partner and a hero. A GoFundMe was established to support his family. A separate online fundraiser was also organized by family to help honor the life of Edward Atkins.
The Stockbridge Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division identified two suspects in the double homicide: 23-year-old Romello Jabari Faison and his father, Anthony Faison. Sources later confirmed that the father and son had been working alongside Johnson’s bail recovery team on the day of the shooting. Anthony Faison was taken into custody and held at the Henry County Jail. His son, Romello, remained at large and a warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of murder, burglary, and impersonating a police officer.
The case against Anthony Faison proceeded through the court system. In 2026, the Supreme Court of Georgia vacated a trial court order that had dealt with statutory immunity in his case. This ruling kept the murder charges against him active and pending as of that decision.
