COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Two murders occurred outside the Budgetel Inn and Suites in Cobb County last week, including the tragic death of a 9-month-old baby.
Cobb County police swiftly arrested five suspects within 72 hours.
Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell was live at Cobb PD Headquarters for Channel 2 Action News at 5:00.
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She spoke exclusively with Deputy Chief Ben Cohen of the Cobb County Police Department about each case and how quickly they were solved.
Of the two cases, one was domestic. Cohen told Newell the suspect and victim in the domestic case were not guests of the motel.
Between the Real Time Crime Center, license plate readers and detectives working 24 hours straight, these cases were solved quickly.
But Cohen says violent crime is not a problem at the motel.
“Our violent crime bureau, our detectives, our first-responding officers, our firefighters, everybody just comes together as a team,” said Deputy Chief Ben Cohen of the Cobb County Police Department.
And that’s what Cohen said his team did when they responded to two unrelated murders outside of the Budgetel Inn and Suites last week.
“They worked so hard to solve both of those murders in three days. That’s not normal for Cobb County to have two murders in three days,” Cohen said.
One case involved a 9-month-old baby.
“Murders in Cobb County are fairly rare, but when there’s a murder of a 9-month-old child, that hits everybody to the core. Nobody wants to see that,” he said.
All five suspects were in custody within 72 hours.
“It was two groups of individuals who were, they had a beef, and the beef turned into a gun fight. And the, then the 9-month-old baby was accidentally shot. The mother of the child knew some of the involved parties,” Cohen said.
Police responded to a deadly domestic incident days later that Cohen says was not tied to the motel.
“In 2024, there was approximately 300 calls that came from that building but really there was only 70 police calls,” Cohen said.
The majority of the calls were tied to mental health and trespassing.
“These two incidents, although tragic, don’t show the character of that hotel,” Cohen said.
Police ramped up patrols after those murders happened. That is how they always respond after violent incidents.
The department says it is constantly evaluating crime trends and addresses crime in various ways that includes community and business partnerships, technology and active techniques.
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