HALL COUNTY, Ga. – Hall County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a Braselton man on Friday evening, May 5, for the murder of his parents.
Daniel Edward Rawlins, 39, is charged with 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, when another family member found William Rawlins unresponsive in the yard. Deputies located Leanette Rawlins, who was also unresponsive, on the porch of the house. Deputies searched the house and a barn apartment on the property for safety reasons before Hall County Fire Rescue assessed both victims, whom were deceased. The suspect, Daniel Rawlins, lives in the apartment on the property but was not there when authorities arrived.
The investigation, which included use of Flock cameras, provided information indicating the car Daniel Rawlins was driving was near Interstate 85 in Braselton. The search led deputies to the Holiday Inn Express & Suites off of Interstate 85 and Ga. Hwy. 211 in Braselton. Deputies and officers evacuated the hotel prior to arresting Daniel Rawlins without incident in a hotel room just before 7 p.m.
The Braselton Police Department, a Barrow County Sheriff’s Office unit and the Georgia State Patrol assisted with the effort at the hotel.
The victims’ bodies have been sent to the GBI Crime Lab for autopsy. The suspected cause of the deaths is not being released at this time.
