Suspect accused of killing 3 people across Atlanta suburbs dies in jail, sparking intense reactions from a victim’s widow

By Holly Yan, Karina Tsui, CNN

(CNN) — A man accused of killing three people, including a Department of Homeland Security employee, in a shooting rampage across several Atlanta suburbs last week has died in custody, authorities said.

Olaolukitan Adon-Abel, 26, was found unresponsive in his jail cell around 6:48 p.m. Tuesday. Detention staff tried to save him, but he was pronounced dead about half an hour later, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

“There is no indication of criminal activity or foul play,” the statement said. The sheriff’s office is reviewing the circumstances of the death, and the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office is trying to determine the cause and manner of death, Deputy Chief Investigator Jess Dillard said.

The investigation, including lab testing, could take “months to complete,” Dillard told CNN Thursday.

Adon-Abel was accused of killing Prianna Weathers, 31; Tony Matthews, 48; and Lauren Bullis, a 40-year-old DHS auditor, in three locations miles apart the morning of April 13. The motive – and why the shooter chose his victims – remains unclear.

The suspect’s death spurred strong reactions from Matthews’ widow, now raising the couple’s 10-month-old by herself.

“The killer is some dead-hearted man that cared not at all for (anybody’s) life, including his,” Dorah Matthews told CNN.

The triple shooting – among nearly 4,000 US gun deaths so far this year – also sparked intense criticism from DHS, which blamed the previous White House administration for allowing Adon-Abel, a native of the United Kingdom, to become a US citizen in 2022.

A gruesome morning

The inexplicable rampage started shortly before 1 a.m., when Weathers was gunned down near a restaurant in Decatur. Her 12-year-old son is now left to grow up without his mother.

About an hour later, Tony Matthews was shot multiple times near a grocery store in Brookhaven, about 15 miles northwest. The welder was the type of person who would help anyone, his sister-in-law Miranda Matthews said.

And shortly before 7 a.m., Bullis was shot and stabbed while walking her French bulldog in Panthersville, more than 10 miles from where Matthews was shot. Bullis was a DHS auditor, avid runner and world traveler who became fast friends with anyone she met, loved ones said.

Feds cite criminal record, but crimes may have occurred after citizenship

Adon-Abel previously had been convicted of several crimes, including sexual battery and assault with a deadly weapon, DHS said. It accused the Biden administration of allowing a “monster” to become naturalized in 2022.

But DHS would not say whether those crimes happened before or after the suspect became a US citizen. The Department of Justice described convictions in 2025, years after the suspect was naturalized.

Court records show a defendant listed as Adon Olaolukitan – with the same birth date as the triple-shooting suspect – pleaded guilty to four counts of misdemeanor sexual battery for a 2025 incident in Georgia. He was sentenced to 48 months of probation.

Another court filing shows a defendant named “Olaolukitan Adonabel” pleaded guilty to a 2024 felony assault with a deadly weapon “other than a firearm on a Police officer or firefighter” in California. The record notes the suspect’s name may also appear as Olaolukitan Adon Abel or Adon Olaolukitan.

The records show a few other charges in cases that were dismissed.

At the time of his death, Adon-Abel’s charges included malice murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to the Justice Department.

A tracing analysis linked the gun in the triple-shooting case to Damon Marquis Yarns, a homeless man who allegedly told authorities he purchased a firearm for a man he identified in a photo array as Adon-Abel, the Justice Department said. Yarns also faces a federal firearms charge.

A widow wanted to confront the suspect – and offer mercy

While Adon-Abel’s death ends the charges against him, it also means some answers might never be known.

“His death denies him the opportunity to contest the charges,” the Georgia Public Defender Council said. “We also regret that the families, friends, and colleagues of the victims may now be left without the fuller answers. … That is a painful and sobering reality for everyone affected.”

Before Matthews was gunned down, the father was “working tirelessly to secure green cards for his wife and stepchildren, hoping to build a better life for them here,” his sister-in-law wrote on a verified GoFundMe page supporting the wife and children.

“Now, his family faces not only the unimaginable grief of losing him, but also the uncertainty of their future in a new country.”

Matthews’ widow was “waiting for the day” she could face the man accused of killing her husband, she said.

“But still I wish he could obtain mercy,” Dorah Matthews said.

“Do you know what I wanted to tell him? That I forgive him still – for killing my husband … (for) denying my baby a chance to those daddy bear hugs.”

CNN’s Taylor Romine and Ryan Young contributed to this report.

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