Crime & Safety

Marietta Men Charged with Marine's Murder

Two Marietta men join two others in the Cobb jail in the death of Zach Gamble.

Four men now are charged with murder in the death of Iraq war veteran Zach Gamble.

arrested Tarell Winston Secrest, 36, of Marietta, Jason Scott Hill, 35, of Marietta and Arthur Lynell Batchelor, 37, of Acworth, on Tuesday, police spokesman Sgt. Dana Pierce said in a news release. (Jail booking records list Hill as a Woodstock resident.)

Each is charged with committing felony murder, aggravated assault and aggravated battery against Gamble, a 34-year-old Marine veteran from Acworth who police say suffered a fatal beating early March 25 after a party at the in Smyrna.

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on the same charges in Gamble’s death.

The arrests follow more than a month of police investigation and pressure from Gamble’s family, including a Facebook page, to solve his death.

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Gamble was found unconscious in the parking lot about 6 a.m. March 25 after a taxi accidentally hit him.

Police detectives determined that his severe head trauma came from a beating, not from the cab.

Gamble, who worked for Uni-Select in Kennesaw, went to the Smyrna apartment March 24 for a friend’s birthday party, police said. Something caused an issue between the Marine and others, and several men confronted Gamble in the parking lot after the party.

Gamble, who had survived two tours of duty in Iraq between 2001 and 2005, never regained consciousness at , where after he was removed from life support. include a 7-year-old son, Luke.

Hall was arrested without trouble at his job on Highway 92 in the Woodstock area, according to police.

Batchelor, who lives in the 4500 block of Lexford Court, just north of Kennesaw, was arrested without incident about 11:30 a.m. where he works along Interstate North Parkway in East Cobb.

Hill and Secrest were arrested together at home without trouble at 7:30 p.m. with the help of the fugitive squad, Pierce said.

Secrest lives in an apartment in the 1600 block of Roswell Road, and apparently Hill, whom jail records show as living in the 8300 block of Brandon Street in Woodstock, is staying with Secrest.

All are being held in the without bond.

The investigation continues, and police ask anyone with further information to call 770-499-3945.

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