Gwinnett's Homicide Rate More Than Doubles Over Past Weekend

Through the first seven months of 2013, Gwinnett County Police only had three homicides. The county’s homicide rate more than doubled with four reported over the weekend through Monday morning, according to a report posted by WXIA-TV Tuesday (July 30). The total so far is seven.

The homicide rate began to rise Saturday night with police discovering the bodies of a married couple stabbed to death in their unincorporated Duluth home about 10 p.m. The couple, identified as Sun Hee Choi, 59, and her husband Young Chan Choi, 63, owned a restaurant supply business in Norcross. 

Gwinnett Police announced Tuesday morning that Ki Song Kim had been arrested as a suspect in the double homicide. He was being held without bond in the Gwinnett County Detention Center. 

The body of Darinel Martinez Lopez, 26, was found in a wooded area near Bella Vista Apartments in unincorporated Duluth about 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon. The cause of his death is being determined by an autopsy. 

Shortly after 7 a.m. Monday, Gwinnett County Police responded to a call at the Celadon Townhome Apartments in unincorporated Norcross and found two men on the ground in front of Building F. One of the men was dead from a gunshot wound, and the other suffered serious head trauma and was transported to Gwinnett Medical Center for treatment.

Gwinnett Police identified the deceased as Steven Carden, 28, of Marietta. The injured man was identified as Thomas Smith, 28, of Powder Springs.

There were 30 homicides in Gwinnett County in 2012, according to WXIA-TV.