An 18-year-old man was ordered detained Tuesday after fatally shooting his father in their Auburn Gresham home over the weekend, according to authorities.
Kevin J. Garrett faces a single count of first-degree murder in Saturday’s shooting death of his father, Kevin T. Garrett, 41.
On Tuesday, Judge David Kelly approved a prosecution request to hold Garrett in custody pending trial, calling him a danger to the public and his own family, who witnessed the fatal shooting.
Authorities said that Garrett — who is 5-foot-1 and 125 pounds, according to his arrest report — entered his family home in the 8200 block of South Elizabeth Street Saturday afternoon, pulled a firearm with an extended magazine and opened fire on his father as he sat watching television in a bedroom with his wife, a second son and a 2-year-old male relative, according to court documents. No other injuries were reported.
After the shooting, Garrett allegedly left the gun in a backpack inside the bedroom and fled the home, authorities said. The next day, Garrett allegedly went to the home of an aunt who took him to Weiss Memorial Hospital for a medical evaluation.
Garrett’s mother and other relatives at the home at the time positively identified him as the gunman, authorities said.
The shooting came a day after Garrett’s 18th birthday, according to court records. Authorities didn’t offer a motive for the slaying.
Authorities alluded to possible mental illness for the defendant, but court documents stated that Garrett had no clinical diagnosis or treatment.
Garrett is scheduled to return to court later this month.
