COLD CASE UNIT INDICTS ALLEGED KILLER FOR NINE-YEAR OLD MURDER OF TEEN

Victim’s Skull, TV Coverage, Public Tips Help Solve Mystery

Atlanta- A Fulton County Grand Jury has indicted an Atlanta man for the shooting death of a 15-year old boy nine years ago. 35-year old Dion Renaldo Sims was formally charged Tuesday in a six-count indictment with Murder, Felony Murder (two counts), Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Possession of a Handgun During the Commission of a Crime and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon for the death of Alan Watson.

The teenager was shot and killed in 2001 and his body discarded in a wooded area at the rear of Flipper Temple apartments on Abner Place in Atlanta. The murder went undetected and the teen was simply reported as “missing” after not returning to his Dekalb County home. A break in the case came last year when a surveyor discovered a skull in the woods where the body was buried. News reports of the skull with a distinctive crown on a front tooth prompted calls from the victim’s family who believed it could be their relative. Subsequent DNA testing revealed that the remains did in fact belong to 15-year old Alan Watson. After the positive match, the victim’s picture was shown on television and anonymous tips began pouring into police identifying Dion Sims as the shooter. Sims was arrested in May of 2010.

The case will now be assigned to a Fulton County Superior Court Judge and scheduled for trial. It is being prosecuted by the District Attorney’s Cold Case Unit.

Media Contact: Yvette Brown, 404-224-0560/404-392-8867, yvette.brown@fultoncountyga.gov