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ELLIJAY, Ga. (BFMG) — Authorities in a North Georgia mountain community announced Thursday that three additional arrests have been made in connection with the murder of a 19-year-old woman last month, raising the total number of arrests to seven.
The Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office said Aspen Leigh Cagle, 15; Madison Alina Grace Perez, 19; and Elizabeth “Rylie” Sue Henson, 17, were taken into custody and booked into jail. Cagle faces charges of murder and robbery, Perez is charged with murder, and Henson with robbery.
“These arrests are part of a broader investigation into a series of armed robberies carried out by this group between Ellijay and Jasper,” Sheriff Stacy Nicholson said. “Tragically, Mallory Warden was killed during one of these robberies.”
Warden, 19, was found on Sept. 18 with a gunshot wound inside a vehicle on South Main Street in Ellijay, authorities said. She was transported to a hospital, where she later died. Investigators later determined that the shooting had occurred on a rural road outside of Ellijay in Gilmer County.
Earlier in the investigation, police arrested four suspects—Gray Anthony McClure, 21; Robert Gabriel Shoilekov, 17; Davonnte Lavon Brehon, 18; and Anthony Jared Inestruza Whisnant, 19—and charged them with felony murder.
Sheriff Nicholson emphasized that the investigation remains ongoing and additional arrests are likely.
“We are committed to charging every individual involved in this crime, whether they were physically present or assisted in planning,” Nicholson said. “We want to send a clear message: if you help someone commit a crime, in any capacity, you will face consequences.”
The sheriff did not confirm whether Warden was affiliated with the group carrying out the robberies.
