ROSWELL, Ga. â After 33 years, two months and six days, Roswell police arrested the man they believe murdered 8-year-old Joshua Harmon, whose body was found in a wooded area 100 yards from the apartment complex where he lived.
It was the departmentâs oldest unsolved homicide. Master Police Officer Jennifer Bennett led the investigation for about four years. As an investigator of crimes against children, she knew the case would bring challenges, but she said she was determined to see it through.
âThis case had a profound impact on the police department,â Bennett said. âThat any homicide, and especially a child homicide, would be unsolved for so long is incredibly frustrating. Some of us have grown up knowing of this case and to now have children of our own, it is distressing to know that there is a family that for 33 years has had few answers with regards to the death of their child.â
3 decades later, Georgia man is charged with killing boy, 8 apnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from apnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Child murderer arrested after 33 years of crime
11 hours ago
Mostafa Al Zoubi,
Gulf Today
American national James Michael Coates, 56, was arrested and convicted of a murder he committed on May 15, 1988, 33 years later.
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Coates was arrested at the apartment complex, where the child resided.
The criminal faces felony murder, aggravated assault and tampering with evidence. When the criminal remains free for a long time, it is actually a tragedy no family whose child dies can stand, Roswell Police Chief James Conroy said at a news conference.
The victim s body was discovered two days later in an area near his house and the killer resided there also.
DNA helps link convicted child molester to 30-year-old cold case in Atlanta
James Michael Coates has been arrested more than 30 years after an eight-year-old boy was found dead in Georgia
24 July 2021 • 6:00am
James Michael Coates was arrested and charged with the 1988 killing of 8-year-old Joshua Harmon in Roswell, Georgia
Credit: AP
A convicted sex offender has been arrested more than 30 years after an eight-year-old boy was found dead in the woods of an Atlanta suburb.
James Michael Coates, 56, faces multiple charges, including murder and aggravated child molestation in the 1988 killing of Joshua Harmon, Roswell police announced Friday. He was taken into custody Wednesday after a traffic stop as he rode in an Uber.
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