Atlanta, Georgia 1979-1981
The Atlanta Child Murders terrorised the black population of one of America’s largest cities for two years, destroyed families and created huge tensions between the black community and public authorities.
At least 28 children, teenagers and adults were killed.
THE VICTIMS
Edward Hope Smith and Alfred Evans July 1979
The two boys disappeared 4 days apart but their bodies were found together.
Smith, known as Teddy, was 14, and he had been shot. Evans, known as Q, was also 14.
Milton Harvey September 4, 1979
14-year-old Milton was running an errand for his other when he disappeared. His distinctive yellow bike was found in a remote area a week later, but his body was not found until November.
Yusuf Bell October 21, 1979
Yusuf was only 9 and was going to a local store for a neighbour. A witness saw him get into a car and he was not seen alive again. On November 8th, his remains were found in an abandoned school. He had been hit over the head and then strangled.
Angel Lanier March 4, 1980
12-year-old Angel was the first female victim. She disappeared after spending some time at her friend’s house. Her body was found six days later in a wood nearby. She had been strangled.
Jeffrey Mathis March 11, 1980
11-year-old Jeffrey disappeared after running an errand for his mother. Months later, a girl said that she had seen him getting into a car with a light-skinned man. However, Mathis’ body was found 11 months after he disappeared.
Eric Middlebrooks May 18 1980
Eric was 14 when he disappeared, leaving his home with his bike. His body was found the next day. He had died from a head wound, but also had slight stab wounds on his chest.
Christopher Richardson June 9 1980
He went missing on the way to a local swimming pool. His body was found the following January, with a later victim Earl Terrell. He was wearing a pair of swimming trunks that were not his.
La Tonya Wilson June 22,1980
7-year-old LaTonya disappeared from her apartment. A witness said they saw two men abducting her – one climbed in through the apartment window, then brought Wilson out. Wilson’s body was found in October.
Aaron Wyche June 23, 1980
Aaron was seen getting into a car near a local grocery store (there were one or two black men in the car). Another witness saw him being led by a tall black man with moustache and goatee. The description of the car also matched the car seen in the abduction of Jeffrey Mathis. Mathis was seen after the abduction, in a shopping mall. His body was found the next day: he had died after breaking his neck.
Anthony Carter July 1980
9-year-old Carter disappeared after playing hide-and-seek with his cousin. His body was found in a nearby abandoned warehouse – he had been stabbed to death.
Earl Terrell July 30, 1980
Last seen sitting outside a local pool (after he had been thrown out), the day after he disappeared, his parents got a phone call from a man who said he was holding Earl and asked for a $200 ransom. There was no follow-up call and Earl’s body was found, shot to death, with the body of Christopher Richardson, in woods.
Darron Glass September 14, 1980
11-year-old Darron was last seen getting off a church bus. His foster mother later received “an emergency call from Darron Glass,” but the line went dead. His foster brother claimed to be in contact with Darron as late as November.
Darron’s body was never found.
Charles Stephens October 9, 1980
Charles was last seen at home, but is supposed to then been going to see a friend. He was seen skateboarding, and a strange man was seen a few doors away around the same time. Charles was found the next day, dead of asphyxiation. His body had some dog and Caucasian hairs on it, and hos boxers were found nearby and had two strange pubic hairs on them.
Aaron Jackson October 30, 1980
9-year-old Aaron went missing from a shopping centre. His body was found the next day on a river next to a bridge.
Patrick Rogers November 1980
Rogers was 16, older than most other victims. A week before he disappeared, Wayne Williams (the man convicted of the murders) was seen leafleting the housing project where Rogers lived.
His body was found on a riverbank, killed by a blow to the head.
Lubie Geter January 3, 1981
Lubie’s body was found on February 5th.
Terry Pue January 1981
Pue was a friend of Geter, and lived in the same apartment block as Teddy Smith (a 1979 victim). An anonymous call to the police told them where to find the body.
Patrick Baltazar February 1981
Patrick disappeared after being seen at his father’s workplace. His body was found in undergrowth. He had been strangled and there were dog hairs on his body.
Curtis Walker February 1981
13-year-old Curtis was last seen at a gun shop where he did odd jobs, then walking to a nearby shopping mall. Sniffer dogs traced his scent to the back of a nearby school, and there was a possible sighting of him getting into a car.
His body was found snagged to a log in a river, and he had been strangled.
Joseph Bell March 2, 1981
15-year-old “Jo Jo” disappeared on March 2nd. A witness said they saw Wayne Williams at the South River that afternoon. The next day, Jo Jo called the diner where he worked, saying he was almost dead. His body was then found near the South River.
A witness did swear an affidavit to say she saw someone who was NOT Wayne Williams kill Jo Jo.
Timothy Hill March 1981
Hill was playing with his niece when she said he left in a taxi with a man who was putting mud on his face. A witness Frankie Mealing said he had sex with Hill and another boy in a house owned by a paedophile. Two days later, Timothy was seen talking to a girl. Another two days later, he called a teacher and sobbed on the phone.
Hill’s body was found at the end of March in the river Chattahoochie.
Eddie Duncan March 20, 1981
Eddie was 21 (and in fact all the remaining victims were 17 or over). He was seen getting into a car with a light-skinned man at 10pm. His body was found in the river, a few feet from where Hill’s body was found 24 hours earlier.
Larry Rogers April 1981
Rogers was seen getting onto a green Chevy car on the afternoon of March 30th. His body was found in an abandoned apartment block, and again dog hairs were found on his body.
Michael McIntosh March 24, 1981
23-year-old McIntosh left his workplace at the Milton Avenue Foundry on March 24th and never returned. Friends and family did see him until April 1st.
His body was found on the banks of the Chattahoochie river on April 20th. He was naked, and had been asphyxiated.
Jimmy Payne April 1981
Payne was 21 and had not long been released from prison. He missed a date with his girlfriend that afternoon, though there were later sightings. His body was found in the river by people fishing.
William Barrett May 1981
Barrett disappeared after paying a housing bill for his mother, though he was seen getting into a car with a black man later, a few blocks from his home. His body was found by FBI officers in woods. He had been strangled and his body carried animal hairs.
Nathaniel Carter May 1981
Carter was 27, and was last seen at the entrance to the Rialto Theater in Atlanta, holding hands with Wayne Williams. His body was found a few hours later.
ARREST AND TRIAL
On May 22, 1981m police were watching various locations in the city, including river bridges (as several victims had been dropped in rivers). One of the officers watching on one bridge heard a splash in the Chattahoochee River, and Wayne B Williams was seen getting into his parked car near the river immediately after the splash.
Williams was arrested and questioned, but although police were sure he was a strong suspect, they didn’t have enough evidence to hold him, so he was released.
But then on May 24, the body of Nathaniel Carter was recovered from the Chattahoochee downstream from the bridge. Forensic tests confirmed dog hairs on Nathaniel’s body matched dog hairs taken from Williams’ car and also the dog hairs found on another 9 victims.
Witnesses also came forward to say they had seen Williams with Carter just before he disappeared. Williams was arrested again, and put on trial for two murders. Williams had not confessed, nor were there any witnesses to the murders, but forensic evidence was crucial, and so was the fact that once Williams was in custody, the murders stopped.
Williams was convicted and sentenced to two life terms.
There are some doubts about whether Williams murdered all of the victims, and there have been various reviews of evidence. In 2019, the Mayor of Atlanta and the Atlanta Police Chief announced another review of the evidence.