Arrest made in murder of actor
An Atlanta man was arrested Friday morning in the fatal shooting of actor Thomas Jefferson Byrd, authorities said.
The man, Antonio Demetrice Rhynes, 30, was arrested on a charge of felony murder in the death of Byrd, 70, earlier this month, Officer Anthony W. Grant, a spokesman with the Atlanta Police Department, said in a statement.
Police said they followed evidence and tips from the public to identify Rhynes as a suspect and issued a warrant for his arrest Wednesday. Police said he was arrested without incident at an apartment complex and shared a drone video of the arrest. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer. He was taken to the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, according to jail records.
On Oct. 3, about 1:45 a.m., police officers responded to a call of a person who had been wounded. When they arrived, they said they found a man, who was later identified as Byrd, dead with multiple gunshot wounds to the back. It was not clear what led to the shooting or whether the gunman and the victim knew each other.
Grant said, “We do not have motive information to release at this time as well.”
Shortly after the killing, Craig Wyckoff, a friend and former representative of Byrd’s, said he had spoken with a “circle of friends,” who told him that Byrd had gotten into an argument with someone at a store and that “that person must have followed him
home.” Police had declined to confirm that account.
Byrd’s daughter, Shannon Byrd- Crossley who lives in Atlanta, thanked the city’s police department for the arrest.
“We are very thankful for all of the work the APD has done,” she said Friday. “This gives a little closure and relief, but there is still sadness that’s there because it doesn’t bring my father back.”
Byrd was a film, television and stage actor known as a favorite of director Spike Lee. After Byrd’s death, Lee called him “our beloved brother” and paid tribute to him by highlighting his movie roles in a series of Instagram posts.
Byrd appeared in Lee’s “Clockers” (1995), “Girl 6” (1996), “Get on the Bus”
(1996), “He Got Game” (1998), “Bamboozled” (2000), “Red Hook Summer” (2012), “Da Sweet Blood of Jesus” (2014) and “Chi-Raq” (2015). Lee has set up a Go Fund Me page to raise money for Byrd’s children.
Byrd also received a Tony Award nomination for his one Broadway appearance, in a 2003 production of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”
On Tuesday, a memorial service for Byrd was held in Atlanta where it was streamed online to hundreds of people.
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