DECATUR — A spate of early Sunday violence in Decatur left one man shot to death and a woman fighting for her life after sustaining injuries in unconnected crimes, police report.
The fatal gunshot victim was identified Sunday afternoon as Arrion L. McClelland, 24, who lived in Decatur. Macon County Coroner Michael E. Day said McClelland died from a "penetrating gunshot wound to the head." An inquest will be held later.Â
Detective Sgt. Steve Carroll said the mortally wounded McClelland had been found by police patrol officers after they responded to the area of the 1100 block of West Wood Street around 3:50 a.m. and then heard gunshots nearby.
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“The victim was loaded into an ambulance and taken to hospital, where he was later pronounced deceased,” Carroll added. The coroner said McClelland had been pronounced dead in the emergency room of Decatur Memorial Hospital at 4:25 a.m.Â
Carroll described how there had been calls received earlier asking police to respond to the area where there was a large group of people gathered on the street. But Carroll said officers had been busy dealing with the other unrelated incident involving the grievously injured woman and could not respond right away.
The detective said that, in a change from what police are often confronted with, witnesses who had been in the area when the fatal shooting happened were being cooperative.
“We’re getting more help than we normally do and we’re working on some things right now,” Carroll said of the investigation, speaking late Sunday morning.
“Detectives are out interviewing witnesses and we’re seeing how that pans out. We have some leads.”
In the case of the wounded woman, Carroll said police had been called at 1 a.m. to an address in the 100 block of South Calhoun Street. “It was in reference to a domestic violence situation where a lady said she was having problems with her son,” explained Carroll.
“He unfortunately attacked her and she received some significant blunt force trauma to her head. She was taken to a local hospital and then transferred outside Decatur for further treatment. She is in critical condition.”
The son, identified as Adam D. Rich, 19, was tracked down by police within an hour of beginning their investigation and was booked on a preliminary charge of attempted murder. He remained in the Macon County Jail Sunday with no bail yet set.
Carroll said Rich had wielded an object to hit his 43-year-old mom, but the detective declined to say what that object was. Carroll described the wounds inflicted as “horrendous” and said it wasn’t clear yet what the victim’s prognosis would be.
All preliminary charges are subject to review by the office of the state's attorney.