A heartbreaking tragedy struck in Cobb County last Tuesday night, September 23, 2025, when a 9-month-old baby girl named Aziah McDougle was shot and killed outside a rundown motel. It happened in the parking lot of the Budgetel Inn & Suites over on Circle 75 Parkway a spot that’s no stranger to trouble, with constant complaints about crime and violence.
From what the police have pieced together, shots rang out around 8 p.m. behind the building. People who were there said it was total chaos. One guy living nearby told me,
“We heard the pops it wasn’t just a single bang, sounded like a whole magazine emptying out. Everyone hit the deck, and before you knew it, cops were swarming the place.”
Turns out, little Aziah got hit during some kind of shootout between a couple of armed guys. Her mom, who’s been homeless and crashing around the motel area, called 911 in a panic after her baby was wounded. Officers got there fast, but sadly, the infant was already gone by the time they arrived too late for any help.
A tweet from X.
They arrested this man, 22-year-old Ladarrius Tremelle Brown, and accused him of felony murder, assault, and possession of a gun during the commission of a crime. Checking his history in the county jail records, he’ve been in trouble before the like robbery, assault, and additional gun offenses since 2021. At the time, he was staying at the Red Roof Inn next door and was on probation from a battery conviction last year.
Brown’s locked up without bond right now. Four other dudes got arrested too Jayvian Young and Noah Martin are facing murder and assault raps, and then Camron Harris and Anthony Smith are hit with tampering with evidence. Cops think Brown and Young were blasting at each other, but they’re still figuring out whose bullet actually killed the baby.
This whole thing has rattled everyone the homeless folks hanging around the motel, and regular residents in the county. Neighbors remembered Aziah as this sweet little bundle of joy.
“She was just precious, always bringing smiles to people’s faces,”
One woman said.
Even the county’s top official, Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, weighed in, calling it “beyond heartbreaking” and promising the county will keep backing the police to keep families safe.
That Budgetel Inn? It’s a hotspot for problems. County records show hundreds of 911 calls in the last year alone. Folks have been griping about the violence there for ages. And get this just days after Aziah died, there was a stabbing reported at the same damn place.
Stories like this really drive home how gun violence tears apart the most vulnerable spots in our communities. For families scraping by, dealing with homelessness and all that instability, getting caught in the middle of something like this is just devastating.
If anyone’s got info, the cops want you to call the Major Crimes Unit at 770-499-3945.
