15-year-old calls mom for help before being found dead inside abandoned apartment

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB/Gay News) - Georgia authorities say a teenager was found shot and killed inside an abandoned apartment Sunday morning.

Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler identified the teen as Austin Payne.

According to the Albany Police Department, officers were called to what appeared to be an abandoned apartment on Cameo Lane that morning after Payne’s mother discovered his body on the floor.

The report states Payne’s mother began searching for him Sunday morning after he failed to return home from the night before. Using phone tracking, she traced his phone to the building, went inside and found him unresponsive in the apartment.

Investigators reviewing surveillance footage and phone records pieced together a timeline from Halloween night:

• Around 7:35 p.m., surveillance video showed six people walking toward the building.
• By 7:58 p.m., footage captured a person wearing a hoodie and shorts jumping out of a window at the apartment.
• At around 8:03 p.m., Payne called his mother stating he had been shot and needed help, according to phone records cited in the report.
• The boy’s mother told officers she initially believed he was joking because of past remarks, but became concerned when she no longer could reach him.

Albany police said people walking with Payne Saturday night said they were approached by a group appearing to be armed and ordered them to hand over their property, and fired shots.

The witnesses added that the armed group may have targeted Payne to rob him of a handgun he had recently posted to social media.

Investigators said they canvassed the scene and recovered seven shell casings.

The Albany Police Department said the investigation remains ongoing.