A homicide occurred at a residence in the Salem community overnight Saturday (December 2nd)
Cherokee County Sheriff Jeff Shaver stated that deputies and investigators responded to the home and discovered a white male with a gunshot wound to the head. Cherokee County Coroner Jeremy Deaton pronounced the victim, 45 year old Matthew Lee Smith, dead at the scene.
Sheriff’s Office investigators assigned to the Major Crimes Unit, Coroner’s Office and the JSU Center for Applied Forensics processed the crime scene.
Chief Investigator Josh Summerford and Investigator Michael Green interviewed the suspect, identified as 19 year old Matthew Gonzalez of Cedartown, Georgia, at the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office, where he was taken into custody early Sunday after being charged with DUI by the Georgia State Patrol. Jail records indicate he was booked in at 4:07am.
According to Sheriff Shaver, Gonzalez will be extradited back to Cherokee County on Capital Murder charges.
We’ll have more on this story as it continues to develop.
(Information provided in part by al.com/www.al.com)
