A man charged in a string of shootings near Atlanta that killed three people died in jail Tuesday night, authorities said, closing the case as prosecutors and defense attorneys had prepared for court proceedings. Olaolukitan Adon Abel, 26, was found unresponsive in his cell, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement, and officials provided medical treatment before he was pronounced dead.
The Sheriff’s Office said officials had not determined the official cause of death and did not suspect foul play, adding that it was conducting an internal review. Abel had been held pending prosecution after the shootings last week that resulted in the deaths of Prianna Weathers, 31, and Department of Homeland Security auditor Lauren Bullis, 40, who was walking her dog, authorities said.
Abel had also been accused in the attack that left Tony Mathews, 49, injured, and authorities were seeking an additional murder charge after Mathews died Sunday. Police had said they believed at least one victim was targeted at random, but authorities had not offered a potential motive for the shootings, and it remained unclear whether Abel knew any of the victims.
The case depended on a court process that Abel would not now be able to contest. A public defender represented him, and a statement from the state council overseeing defenders’ work said Wednesday that his death denied him “the opportunity to contest the charges in court.” The statement said it also left families, friends and colleagues without what a public legal process might have provided about how the deaths occurred.
Court records show that Abel faced state charges including malice murder, aggravated assault and gun charges over the attacks, and he also faced a federal count involving illegally possessing the gun as a person previously convicted of a felony. The federal charge was filed Friday, according to the reporting.
Behind the accusations, Abel’s life and earlier legal history also came into view as questions about what led to the violence focused on the defendant and how the case would have been presented in court. Roommates told The Associated Press that shortly before the shootings, Abel had an intense argument over the air conditioning in their home and “stormed out,” living in a house with multiple other residents in separate units.
Separately, the reporting described how Abel, a United Kingdom native, gained U.S. citizenship in 2022 while serving in the U.S. Navy and stationed in the San Diego area. Markwayne Mullin, then serving as Homeland Security Secretary in the Trump administration, raised concerns about Abel’s citizenship during Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency, according to the reporting, while the story also said it was unclear whether any alleged prior crimes occurred before Abel became a citizen.
Military records cited in the reporting said Abel enlisted in the Navy in 2020 and last served in the Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron in Coronado, California, earning a Navy “E” Ribbon for superior performance for battle readiness. The reporting also said court records show Abel pleaded guilty in October 2024 to assaulting two police officers with a deadly weapon and attacking another person while stationed in Coronado near San Diego.
Abel’s attorney, Brandon Naidu, described the case in part through what he said Abel experienced in the earlier legal matter in California, saying Wednesday he had limits on what he could disclose publicly. Naidu said, “Mental health was absolutely at the center of his San Diego case,” and added that he believed it “was fueled by suicidal ideation as a result of mental health that he was self-treating with substances.” He also said, “Nobody wins in this. We’ll never know the motives, what could have been done beforehand or even afterward. Nobody gets proper closure on this.”
The Navy veteran’s death means the prosecution’s allegations and the defense’s opportunity to contest them will not be resolved in court, while investigators continue to separate what is known from what remains unanswered as families await explanations about the killings.