By Tamar Lapin, The New York Post
A fifth-grade teacher in Georgia is accused of killing young siblings in a gang-related home invasion.
Michael De’Sean White, 26, was taken away in handcuffs from DeKalb’s Toney Elementary School on Friday in connection with the 2016 killing, Clayton County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Sgt. Ashanti Marbury said.
(School officials say White passed not one, but two background checks. Courtesy of 11Alive and YouTube. Posted on Mar 28, 2018)
Police said Tatiyana Coates, 11, and her brother Daveon Coates, 15, were asleep in their home on Oct. 22, 2016, when they were shot to death by gang members looking for a different teen, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Another 15-year-old had been staying in the home briefly after the Coateses took his family in — but wasn’t there when the gang broke in.
He was taken into protective custody in Tennessee immediately after the home invasion.
Four younger children — ages 6 to 13 — were also in the home during the attack and were not hurt.
Cops charged the teacher with four counts of murder and said he was possibly one of many perps.
Investigators didn’t confirm whether White was actually the triggerman or whether he was part of the gang.
(Learn More. Clayton County investigators searching for the killers who murdered two kids, but tell FOX 5 they are now speaking to a 15-year-old in police custody who was the actual target of the brutal crime. Courtesy of Fox 5 Atlanta and YouTube. Posted on Oct 25, 2016)
A sketch of a man seen at the murder scene by a witness helped police identify White.
“It kicks you in the gut that someone who’s responsible for our children on a daily basis could possibly be involved in a heinous crime like this,” Major Tina Daniel told WSB-TV.
White won’t be back in the classroom until the investigation is complete, district officials told the outlet.
He began working as a teacher’s assistant in March 2017 and became a fifth-grade teacher in August.
He remains in custody at the Clayton County Jail without bail.
The Coates siblings are among the victims of a deadly string of gun violence against kids in the county.
From October to December 2016, seven people between the ages of 11 and 18 were killed and their alleged killers were also young people.
Original post https://nypost.com/2018/03/28/fifth-grade-teacher-charged-in-gang-killings-of-two-kids/
