CONYERS, Ga. - Suspicious activity observed by a Conyers Police Officer led to the arrest of two wanted murder suspects as well as a narcotics seizure.  Officer Kelli Behrend was on routine patrol the night of Friday, June 30,

Officer Kelli Behrend was on routine patrol the night of Friday, June 30 when she observed a vehicle with the windows fogged in the parking lot of Motel 6, 1351 Dogwood Drive, in Conyers.  Two males were inside the vehicle when the passenger exited and immediately retreated to a room ignoring her commands.

Officer Behrend encountered the driver and immediately smelled an odor of marijuana and requested K9 to assist with the investigation.  Meanwhile, additional officers arrived at the location and observed the male passenger and two females inside the motel room.  Ultimately, one of the females answered the door and the male had to be retrieved from his hiding spot in the bathroom.

Three quart sized bags each containing about 100 tablets of suspected MDMA or “ecstasy” was located inside the room and K9 Eddie alerted that there were also narcotics inside the vehicle.  K9 Eddie’s handler, Officer Scruggs, and Officer Ferrell located suspected marijuana and a handgun in the trunk. A check of the pistol revealed that it was stolen out of Winder, Georgia in 2008. 

Both males were taken into custody for possession of narcotics, the stolen handgun, and the suspicion that both had provided false names. Once they were fingerprinted at the Rockdale County Jail, it was revealed that both subjects were wanted for two separate murders, nearly 10 years apart, and on opposite sides of the country.

The passenger who hid in the bathroom is Brian Simpson, 38, of Huntsville, Alabama.  He is wanted for a triple shooting that occurred May 31 in Huntsville in the 3000 block of Brook Manor Avenue. Ladarius Turner, 26, was fatally shot and two others were injured.  Huntsville Police Department charged Simpson with murder, attempted murder, and first-degree assault. 

The driver was discovered to be Kirk Mitchell, 42, of California.  He is wanted out of Los Angeles County for a murder that occurred Dec. 29, 2007.  Mitchell fled the LA area after shooting and killing 65-year-old Louis Charles Mingo of Lawndale, California in an underground parking garage of the victim’s apartment complex.  He has been on the run until his sudden encounter with Conyers Police Officer Behrend nearly ten years later.