Deputies arrested a Braselton man Friday evening and charged him with murdering his parents, the Hall County Sheriff’s Office says.
Daniel Rawlins, 39, faces two counts of malice murder in the deaths of Leanette Rawlins, 66, and William Rawlins, 67, at their home in the 5000 block of Union Church Road.
Deputies responded to the home at approximately 4:30 p.m. on Friday, May 5, when another family member found William Rawlins unresponsive in the yard. Deputies found Leanette Rawlins unresponsive on the porch. After law enforcement secured the area, Hall County Fire Rescue checked the victims, and they were pronounced dead.
Deputies searched the house and a barn apartment on the property where the couple’s son lives – but he was not there when authorities arrived, the sheriff’s office says.
Investigators used Flock cameras to locate the car Daniel was driving near I-85 in Braselton. The search led deputies to the Holiday Inn Express & Suites off of I-85 and Ga. Hwy. 211 in Braselton.
Deputies were able to evacuate the hotel before arresting Rawlins without incident just before 7 p.m., says sheriff’s office spokesperson Derreck Booth.
The Braselton Police Department, a Barrow County Sheriff’s Office unit, and the Georgia State Patrol helped at the hotel so authorities could take Rawlins into custody.
Booth says the victims’ bodies have been sent to the GBI Crime Lab for autopsy. He says, “The suspected cause of the deaths is not being released at this time.”
