Georgia · DeKalb County · Crime & Courts

Rockcliff Road Sleepover Shooting in DeKalb County, GA: Demarcus Shirley, 13, and Chauncey Newman, 45, Killed; 16-Year-Old Arrested

Dozens of rounds went into a house full of sleeping boys on July 2. Five days later a 21-year-old was taken in Hampton. Forty days later a 16-year-old was taken in Decatur. Both are charged. Neither has been convicted of anything.

What happened on Rockcliff Road

Early on July 2, 2026, someone fired into an occupied house on Rockcliff Road in DeKalb County, Georgia. A 13-year-old boy and a 45-year-old man were killed. Several other boys were in the house for a sleepover and none of them was hit.

Atlanta News First reported it plainly: “Early on July 2, police said 13-year-old Demarcus Shirley and 45-year-old Chauncey Newman were shot to death in a home on Rockcliff Road.” The same station reported that “dozens of shots were fired into the home from a vehicle that Webb was seen driving.”

CBS News Atlanta placed the same event on “the morning of July 2 at a home on Rockcliff Road.” WSB Radio reported that “DeKalb County Police responded to a home on Rockcliff Road after reports of a shooting on July 2.”

Decaturish described it as “multiple shots had been fired into the home from outside.” FOX 5 Atlanta put it as “shooters sprayed a home with bullets on Rockcliff Road SE.”

Two people have since been arrested. Keyshun Webb, 21, was taken into custody on July 7. A 16-year-old was taken into custody on Tuesday, Aug. 11 — 40 days after the shooting. Both are accused, and this page will keep saying so.

Exactly where: Rockcliff Road SE, DeKalb County

Four outlets place this on the same street, and one of them adds a directional.

Atlanta News First, CBS News Atlanta and WSB Radio all name Rockcliff Road. FOX 5 Atlanta names Rockcliff Road SE. That is a compatible detail rather than a conflict — a quadrant designation on a street name is more precise, not different. We use Rockcliff Road SE where the sentence can carry it, because the reader typing a street into a search box benefits from the extra character pair.

No street number appears in the reporting we were given, and no house number appears on this page. That is a deliberate refusal, not an oversight. A grieving household does not need its address indexed alongside a homicide, and a map marker would only pretend to a precision the record does not contain. There is no map figure here for exactly that reason.

Nothing in the reporting we were given states which city, if any, the house sits inside, so this page says DeKalb County and stops there.

Who was killed: Demarcus Shirley and Chauncey Newman

Atlanta News First identified the two people killed as Demarcus Shirley, 13, and Chauncey Newman, 45. A named outlet published those names, so we publish them. Withholding a name a newsroom has already reported does not protect anybody; it only makes a page useless to the people searching for it.

WSB-TV reported that friends told Channel 2 Action News he was “a mentor known as ‘Pops’ to young boys in the community.” That is the whole of what a named outlet has said about who he was to the children in that house, and we are not going to embroider it.

One further detail sits in the record and is easy to misread. Atlanta News First reported that “Shirley's great uncle previously told Atlanta News First that the 13-year-old did not live at the home.” A boy at a sleepover was not sleeping at his own address. Whose home it was, who else lived there and why that house was hit are not stated in the reporting we were given, and no amount of reader demand will make us fill those in.

The sleepover, and the boys who were not hit

Four outlets describe the same fact from four angles, and every one of them lands on the same result: nobody else in the house was injured.

Read those rows next to each other and the shape of the night is clear without a single invented word. Decaturish specifies boys at a sleepover. FOX 5 Atlanta specifies children. CBS News Atlanta and WSB Radio use the broader word people. One household, described at different resolutions.

How many boys were in the house is not a number anyone has published. “Several” is a word, not a count, and we are not going to convert it into one.

How many shots, and where they came from

The volume of gunfire is the detail that separates this from a targeted shot through a window, and it is the detail readers ask about first.

Atlanta News First reported that “dozens of shots were fired into the home from a vehicle that Webb was seen driving.” That single sentence carries two things at once: a quantity and a delivery method. It is the reason this case is described as a drive-by.

Decaturish's version is quieter — “multiple shots had been fired into the home from outside” — and does not mention a vehicle. FOX 5 Atlanta's version is the loudest of the three: “shooters sprayed a home with bullets on Rockcliff Road SE.” Note that FOX 5 uses the plural, shooters.

Attention: “dozens” is a description, not an evidence count. It is not a casing tally from a crime-scene log, and nobody has published one. If a firm number ever exists it will come out of a courtroom or a lab report, not out of a first-week news story, and this page does not pretend otherwise.

Timeline: July 2 to Aug. 11

Two arrests, five weeks apart, in two different counties. Here is the sequence exactly as named outlets reported it, with the outlet attached to each step so you can see who established what.

Schematic sequence, not to scale. The only dates in the public record are July 2, July 7, Aug. 5 and Aug. 11, 2026. No clock time has been published for the shooting itself, so none appears above. Steps are ordered by date, not by any published timestamp.

The first arrest: Keyshun Webb, 21

Five days after the shooting, on July 7, 2026, a 21-year-old was taken into custody in a different county.

Atlanta News First reported that “Keyshun Webb, 21, allegedly fired multiple shots into the home on Rockcliff Road,” and that he was “captured at an address on Portwest Way in Hampton, Georgia.” On Common Ground News narrowed the address further, reporting that Webb was “located in the 1700 block of Portwest Way in Hampton, Georgia.” CBS News Atlanta reported that “21-year-old Keyshun Webb was taken into custody in Hampton, Georgia, on Tuesday.”

The agencies matter here, and they are not interchangeable. Atlanta News First reported that the “DeKalb County Sheriff's Office said that its fugitive unit, with help from U.S. Marshals Service and the Clayton County Police Department, captured the suspect earlier in the day.” On Common Ground News named the same three: the “DeKalb County Sheriff's Office Fugitive Unit, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service and the Clayton County Police Department.”

So: DeKalb County Police responded to the shooting, per WSB Radio. The DeKalb County Sheriff's Office fugitive unit made the July 7 capture, with federal and Clayton County help. A county police department and a county sheriff's office are two separate agencies with separate chiefs, separate budgets and separate roles, and this page does not blur them.

Investigators have not walked through how they identified Webb. CBS News Atlanta reported that “investigators have not shared any details about what led them to identify Webb as the alleged gunman or what the motive behind the shooting was.”

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The 11 felony charges against Keyshun Webb

Two outlets published the charge sheet, and their totals match while their wording differs by three words.

The counts add up the same way in both lists: two plus eight plus one is eleven. The only difference is that Atlanta News First appends “with a weapon” to the aggravated assault counts and WSB-TV does not. We show both rather than picking the tidier one, because a reader comparing this page against a station's story deserves to see why the two sentences do not match word for word.

The eight aggravated assault counts are worth pausing on. Two people died. Eight more counts were filed. Nothing in the reporting we were given explains which people those counts correspond to, and this page will not assign them to the children in that house on its own authority.

Atlanta News First reported that Webb “is being held without bond at the DeKalb County Jail,” and On Common Ground News reported that he is “currently being held without bond at the DeKalb County Jail.” Held without bond means no amount has been set that would let him out while the case proceeds. It is a custody status. It is not a verdict.

The second arrest: a 16-year-old, taken in Decatur

On Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, a 16-year-old was taken into custody at a home in Decatur.

Atlanta News First reported that the teenager was “taken into custody at a home on Flat Shoals Road in Decatur.” FOX 5 Atlanta narrowed the location, reporting that a 16-year-old was “taken into custody Tuesday” at a “home in the 2200 block of Flat Shoals Road.” WSB Radio reported that “The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office along with U.S. Marshals recently took a 16-year-old boy into custody at a home in Decatur.”

WSB-TV attributed the arrest to two agencies working together: “DeKalb deputies and the U.S. Marshals arrested a 16-year-old on Tuesday.” FOX 5 Atlanta named the same two agencies, writing that “DeKalb County deputies and U.S. Marshals tracked down the 16-year-old.”

He had not been easy to find. Atlanta News First reported that he “had been evading capture since Aug. 5.” FOX 5 Atlanta reported that he had “been on the run since Aug. 5.” That is six days between the date the reporting marks as the start of the search and the day he was taken — and 40 days from the shooting itself.

What happened on Aug. 5 that put him on the run is not stated in the reporting we were given. A warrant, a charge, an attempted arrest — the record we have does not say which, and neither does this page.

The 17 felony charges against the 16-year-old

The teenager's charge sheet is longer than the 21-year-old's, and it contains a category Webb's does not.

Two plus ten plus four plus one is seventeen, and both lists match item for item. Atlanta News First described the total as “17 felony charges.”

Two things about that list deserve to be said out loud rather than implied. First, the teenager is charged with malice murder while Webb is charged with murder as the outlets describe those counts — different words on two different charge sheets, filed at different times. Second, four Street Gang Act counts appear on the teenager's sheet and no such count appears in either published list of Webb's charges.

What we are not going to do is turn a charge label into a conclusion. A filed count under a gang statute is an allegation a prosecutor would have to prove. It is not a finding that any organization exists, that this teenager belongs to one, or that the shooting was ordered by anyone. No agency quoted anywhere on this page has said any of that.

Why the 16-year-old has not been named

FOX 5 Atlanta reported that “authorities have not named the 16-year-old suspect due to his age.” WSB Radio put it more briefly: “His name was not released.”

So The Local Alert does not have the name. If we did, we would not print it. And because partial identifiers are how names get reconstructed, this page also does not publish a school, a street of residence, a middle initial or a photograph. The 2200 block of Flat Shoals Road appears on this page because FOX 5 Atlanta published it as the place he was arrested — which is not the same as where he lives, and this page does not claim it is.

There is a reason to be careful beyond politeness. A 16-year-old accused of murder in Georgia may never be convicted of anything. If the case ends in an acquittal or a dismissal, an indexed name follows a person for the rest of a working life. We would rather have a slightly less searchable page than help build that.

Charged is not convicted

Two people are named or described as accused on this page. Here is exactly what that means and what it does not.

A charge is an accusation. It is a sworn allegation that a crime occurred and that a specific person committed it. It is filed by law enforcement, tested later by a defense, and decided — if it is ever decided — by a court. It is not a finding. It is not a verdict. It is not proof of anything.

Keyshun Webb has not been convicted of anything in this case. The 16-year-old has not been convicted of anything in this case. The reporting we were given describes arrests and charges — no plea, no trial and no judgment.

That is why nothing here calls either of them a killer, a gunman or a gang member. Atlanta News First reported that Webb “allegedly fired multiple shots into the home” — note the word the station used, and note that we kept it.

What Sheriff Melody Maddox said

DeKalb County Sheriff Melody M. Maddox is quoted on both arrests, by two different outlets, saying two very different kinds of things.

On the July 7 capture of Webb, On Common Ground News quoted Maddox: “This arrest demonstrates the importance of strong partnerships between our Fugitive Unit and our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners.” That is a statement about how the arrest was made — the fugitive unit, the U.S. Marshals Service and Clayton County police working the same address.

On the Aug. 11 arrest of the 16-year-old, FOX 5 Atlanta quoted Maddox: “This was a senseless act of violence that took two innocent lives and left families and a community hurting.”

Notice what the second quote does and does not do. It characterizes the shooting. It does not characterize the teenager, and it is not an assertion that any particular person did it. A sheriff describing a crime as senseless is not a court finding who committed it.

Who handles a killing in DeKalb County

Three or four separate bodies touch a case like this one, and readers routinely mistake them for each other. Here is who did what, strictly according to the reporting we were given.

Note what is absent from that table, because absence is information too. No source we were given places the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in this case, and none names a prosecutor, a district attorney's office or a court. Charging decisions and prosecutions in Georgia are made by a district attorney rather than by police — but which office has this file, and whether any charging decision has been made beyond the arrest warrants, is not something the reporting we were given establishes. So this page does not name one.

Paperwork, and what an open case means

The most common question after a killing is not about the suspect. It is: how do I get the report? Here is an honest answer rather than a confident one.

This page does not publish a records address, an email or a fee schedule for DeKalb County, because we do not have a verified one in front of us. Printing a number we have not checked would be worse than printing nothing — a family calls it, gets a dead line, loses a morning. The agencies named above hold the paperwork, and their own official websites are where the current request process lives.

What we can tell you is the shape of the wall. Two arrests, no conviction reported: this case is open. Records tied to an open criminal investigation are routinely withheld until it closes, and a request filed this month may come back with exactly that answer. It is standard posture on an active homicide file, not a judgment about who is asking.

Attention: a juvenile case adds a second layer. Material connected to a 16-year-old accused of a crime is handled differently from an adult's file, which is the same reason his name has not been released. Expect less, not more, to be public on that side of the case.

Where our sources differ

Seven newsrooms produced the record this page is built on. They agree on the spine of the story and diverge on the edges, and the divergences are worth seeing rather than smoothing away. We do not pick a winner.

One housekeeping note, because it trips people up constantly. WSB Radio and WSB-TV are two different newsrooms and they are cited separately everywhere on this page. A fact carried by one is not a fact carried by both.

What we don't know yet

None of the above is filled in by inference. This page does not update itself, and it does not promise you a second version. It is a record of what seven named newsrooms had established as of the timestamp at the bottom.

If this is your family

A 13-year-old went to a sleepover and did not come home. A 45-year-old man other people's children called Pops was killed in the same room. Several boys were in that house and lived through it, and they are somebody's children too.

If you are in that circle, know this much. The answers sit on separate clocks held by separate offices. The police file, the medical examiner's paperwork and whatever a prosecutor eventually does are three different tracks, and none of them moves on a family's schedule.

Meanwhile the phone starts ringing, and not everyone calling is calling for you. The Local Alert is not a law firm and is not a law enforcement agency, and we cannot tell you what to sign. What we can say is that nothing has to be signed today.

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Frequently asked questions

What happened on Rockcliff Road in DeKalb County, Georgia?
Two people were shot to death at a home on Rockcliff Road early on July 2, 2026. Atlanta News First reported that dozens of shots were fired into the home from a vehicle. Decaturish reported that multiple shots had been fired into the home from outside, and FOX 5 Atlanta wrote that shooters sprayed a home with bullets on Rockcliff Road SE. Atlanta News First identified the two people killed as 13-year-old Demarcus Shirley and 45-year-old Chauncey Newman.

Who was killed in the DeKalb County sleepover shooting?
Demarcus Shirley, 13, and Chauncey Newman, 45. Atlanta News First reported that both were shot to death in the home on Rockcliff Road. WSB-TV reported that friends told Channel 2 Action News he was a mentor known as Pops to young boys in the community. No source we were given describes how the two knew each other, and The Local Alert is not going to guess at it.

When did the Rockcliff Road shooting happen?
Early on July 2, 2026. Atlanta News First placed it early on July 2. CBS News Atlanta placed it on the morning of July 2. WSB Radio reported that DeKalb County Police responded to a home on Rockcliff Road after reports of a shooting on July 2. No clock time appears in the reporting we were given, so The Local Alert does not print one.

How many shots were fired into the home?
Atlanta News First reported that dozens of shots were fired into the home from a vehicle. Decaturish put it as multiple shots fired into the home from outside. FOX 5 Atlanta described it as shooters spraying a home with bullets. Dozens is the only quantity in the reporting we were given, and it is a description investigators used, not a counted total from an evidence log.

Was anyone else in the house hurt?
No. Decaturish reported that Shirley and several other young boys were inside the home for a sleepover and that no one else inside the home was injured. FOX 5 Atlanta reported that no other children inside the house were injured. CBS News Atlanta reported that other people were also inside the home at the time of the shooting but were not injured. WSB Radio reported that police previously said multiple people were inside the home and were not injured.

Who has been arrested in the DeKalb County sleepover shooting?
Two people. Atlanta News First and CBS News Atlanta reported the July 7, 2026 arrest of 21-year-old Keyshun Webb. Atlanta News First, FOX 5 Atlanta and WSB Radio reported the arrest of a 16-year-old on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. Both are accused. Neither has been convicted of anything, and no court has heard this case.

What is Keyshun Webb charged with?
Eleven felony charges. Atlanta News First listed them as two counts of murder, eight counts of aggravated assault with a weapon and one count of cruelty to animals. WSB-TV listed 11 charges as two counts of murder, eight counts of aggravated assault and one count of cruelty to animals. These are accusations filed against Webb. They have not been tested in a courtroom.

Where was Keyshun Webb arrested?
In Hampton, Georgia. Atlanta News First reported that Webb was captured at an address on Portwest Way in Hampton. On Common Ground News placed it in the 1700 block of Portwest Way. CBS News Atlanta reported that Webb was taken into custody in Hampton on a Tuesday. Atlanta News First reported that Webb allegedly fired multiple shots into the home on Rockcliff Road.

Is Keyshun Webb being held in jail?
Yes. Atlanta News First reported that Webb is being held without bond at the DeKalb County Jail, and On Common Ground News reported that he is currently being held without bond at the DeKalb County Jail. Held without bond means a judge has not set an amount that would allow release before the case is resolved. It is not a finding of guilt.

What is the 16-year-old charged with?
Seventeen felony charges. Atlanta News First listed two counts of malice murder, 10 counts of aggravated assault, four counts of violating Georgia's Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. WSB-TV listed the same set as two counts of malice murder, 10 counts of aggravated assault, four violations of the Street Gang Act and one firearm possession count.

Why has the 16-year-old not been named?
Because of his age. FOX 5 Atlanta reported that authorities have not named the 16-year-old suspect due to his age, and WSB Radio reported that his name was not released. The Local Alert does not have the name, would not publish it if we did, and is not going to publish partial identifiers that would let readers work it out.

Where is the 16-year-old being held?
Atlanta News First reported that the 16-year-old is being held at a local youth detention center. The facility is not named in the reporting we were given. Which court will handle the case, and whether the charges will be moved to adult court, is not stated in the reporting we were given either, so this page does not say.

Has a motive been released?
No. FOX 5 Atlanta reported that officials have not confirmed a motive. CBS News Atlanta reported that investigators have not shared any details about what led them to identify Webb as the alleged gunman or what the motive behind the shooting was. The Local Alert will not speculate about why dozens of rounds went into a house full of sleeping children.

Did Demarcus Shirley live at the home on Rockcliff Road?
Atlanta News First reported that Shirley's great uncle previously told the station that the 13-year-old did not live at the home. Decaturish reported that Shirley and several other young boys were inside the home for a sleepover. Nothing in the reporting we were given explains whose home it was.

Which agencies made the arrests in this case?
Different ones at each stage. WSB Radio reported that DeKalb County Police responded to the home on Rockcliff Road. For the July 7 arrest, Atlanta News First and On Common Ground News reported that the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office fugitive unit made the capture with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service and the Clayton County Police Department. For the Aug. 11 arrest, WSB-TV reported that DeKalb deputies and the U.S. Marshals arrested the 16-year-old.