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Police In Atlanta Make Arrest In Clairton Native's Fatal Shooting

ATLANTA (AP) - Police have arrested a suspect on a murder charge in the killing of a 19-year-old woman who was gunned down at a bus stop outside Atlanta.

A fugitive squad on Friday took the man into custody without incident, DeKalb County police Capt. Steve Fore said.

Police say officers found Marcaysia Dawkins lying on the bench with a gunshot wound at the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority stop in the Lithonia area around 10 a.m. Nov. 23.

Surveillance video shows a man walking over to the bench and sitting down, then struggling with Dawkins as cars drive by on a nearby street. In the video, the man appears to take something from Dawkins and run away.

Police said they got a break from a clerk who works at a store near the bus stop.

"The store clerk was looking at the video and noticed the clothes that the guy had on and remembered him and said 'you know what? That guy was in here Saturday,'" Dawkins' uncle, Hassan Jackson, told The Associated Press on Saturday.

The man frequently walked through the area wearing the same clothes, Jackson said. He believes the gunman saw an opportunity at the bus stop to rob Dawkins, though he didn't get away with much money.

"I know she left out of the house with maybe, like $50 that day," Jackson said. She planned to take the bus to a MARTA station to reload her transit card and also planned to stop at a gym, he said.

Police wouldn't release the name of the suspect.

Jackson said he felt police would make an arrest, but didn't expect it to happen so soon.

"I didn't expect it to happen this fast, but I knew DeKalb County police were very adamant about catching this guy," he said.

Dawkins grew up outside Pittsburgh in Clairton, Pennsylvania, before moving to Georgia in March 2013 and graduating from Lithonia High School, according to her obituary. "Marcaysia loved the Lord and he was her strength and strong tower," the obituary said.

In Georgia, she worked at a child care center outside Atlanta and planned to join the U.S. Navy next year, Jackson said.

"She loved kids," he said.

A funeral service is planned for Monday at Morning Star Baptist Church in Clairton.

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