On July 16th, a harrowing incident unfolded in Fayetteville, Georgia, culminating in the arrest of 20-year-old Cameron Hopkins. Hopkins is accused of kidnapping his ex-girlfriend, 19-year-old Kalia Jones, from her workplace, a Wingstop restaurant, and leading authorities on a high-speed chase that tragically ended with Jones’s death.
Around 11 p.m., Fayetteville Police Department received a distress call reporting a kidnapping in progress. Witnesses recounted a chilling scene where Hopkins, armed with a handgun, forced Jones into his vehicle.
“He had the lady that waited upon us and was escorted out of here by him,” a witness recounted, detailing the events to a responding officer. “He walked behind the counter, the lady, I’m assuming that was the manager, [said], ‘What are you doing? Don’t be going beyond this point.’ He proceeded to go in the back, accosted her back toward the rear of the store, grabbed her by the arm, and walked around here with a weapon.”
Security camera footage shows a man grabbing a woman and leading her out of a restaurant
The witness described Hopkins’s vehicle as a red Camaro-like car and indicated its position in the parking lot. Another witness corroborated the account, adding that they heard the manager confronting Hopkins before he abducted Jones.
“When I heard the commotion, the manager saying, ‘You can’t come behind here! What are you doing?’ Yeah, [he] accosted the young lady. Later on, he had, uh, he’s gone on them.” This witness believed the weapon to be a tan-colored handgun, likely a nine-millimeter.
They further described seeing Jones resisting as Hopkins forced her into the car before speeding off. “He marched her right over to the car, put her in the car, she approached, you know she was protesting, but you know he had a weapon so he wasn’t alive, she was going to do, and uh took her in the car like he said he drove over there, did a semi-circle and he went down that way.”
Disturbingly, this wasn’t the first instance of Hopkins’s alleged aggression towards Jones. He was facing previous charges for kidnapping her from September of the previous year, for which he was out on bond.
Body camera footage from pursuing Fayetteville Police Officers documented the high-speed chase that ensued, spanning both Fayette and Clayton counties. Hopkins’s vehicle reached speeds exceeding 100 mph.
“12 months clear the pit, all right, we’re coming up on the Curry Park speeds, it’s gone to 95… over 100, about 105… take down the road coming up on Focus Road… blacking out.”
Police cars pursuing a red car
Dash camera footage captured the moment officers intercepted Hopkins’s vehicle, ultimately ramming it to a stop near Lovejoy High School in nearby Hampton, Georgia.
“I’m gonna take the one I’m trying to get y’all… Okay, well, we’re still on McDonald Road, speeds at about 90, coming up to Chelsea Drive, ready, is he contracted, a great town yard.”
As officers exited their vehicles, the situation escalated with gunshots ringing out.
“He just hit a meeting, he’s probably going to go flat here shortly… 21 15 to 55 to answer your phone… it looks like they turned into the high school here at the middle school… Okay… radio, shots fired, shots fired… I am behind you, I’m behind you… I don’t know… look right here, they’re still in the vehicle with shots being fired… you and it’s a bus, Clayton units advise we’re at Lovejoy High School if we can get some music coming to the back side of the school… knock them off… there’s two occupants… two occupants in the car.”
Police officers surrounding a stopped car
Officers then urged Hopkins to exit the vehicle, their commands captured on body camera footage. “You got rifle, all right… Hey, give them a vehicle, based on… Yeah… yeah, they’re both still in the car, coming to y’all too… we hear female talking right now… um… no, no, no, they started popping as I was in my driver’s seat and got out… Okay, let’s just make sure we stay on the hill… I was trying to see if we can definitely who’s that? Hold on… we got somebody coming in the back side of this high school… Ace Clayton, who was that? All right… I’m good, bro, hey… he’s coming out… no, I got this… he’s coming up down him right there by the car… the passenger door… climb out… Yeah… make him come out… hold on, hold on, hold on… I’m coming with the shield… back up there, ain’t no point moving up on him, call his ass, come out, come out the car, passenger looks deceased, come out, climb over… come out, come out of the window… get out… come out of the window, come out the window, come out of the window… she’s deceased, she’s going online, man… get out of the fucking car, man! Get out of the get out of the car! Crawl out!… You want to move up on them? Crawl out!… Negative, no, negative… Hey, we will but we need you out of the car… Get out of the car, man, get out of the car!… get out, come out, just come out of the car for us… Son, you got to come out of the car, man! Crawl out!… No, no, no, no, no… one voice… you give voices… come out… come on, man, look, come out of the car and we can help you and we can help her… Keep your hands where I can see you… keep your hands open… come out… look, man, come out in the car so we can cut down to her… come out, get out of the car so we can help her!… Step out there you go, step out, step on the ground, on the ground, on the ground!… no, get on the ground… Get on the ground!… On the ground… crawl to us, crawl to us, crawl to us, hey… You take more hands, warning, somebody still covering the car, come to us… they crawl to us right now… you ready? One voice… warning, got hands and commands, come to us, do it now… more.”
To apprehend Hopkins, officers resorted to a “less lethal method,” as per a statement released by the Fayetteville Police Department. Using an “OC type irritant” that affected his eyes, they were able to get Hopkins out of the vehicle.
Body camera footage showed officers then pouring water over Hopkins’s irritated eyes. In a distressed state, Hopkins can be heard asking about Jones’s well-being.
“Stick your head out, we’re gonna dump this on you so you can get some of that OC out of your eye… turn this, turn your head the other way… you want some more… you want more… yes or no? Do you want more water? Can I use remote?… Where is she?… She’s in the car where you left her.”
The gravity of the situation becomes clear as officers discuss the events, expressing their belief that Hopkins had fatally shot Jones.
“Let me come around this way and yeah then I couldn’t see inside the car, I knew she was in there, so I was like locking the fire and hit her but I saw two people now I thought I actually had a black hood because I, it, it passed me southbound on 314 after I just left a pair of Kenwood, I was like, ‘I can’t be going southbound on 314 from the Wingstop.’… And it turned left onto Banks and I went down 85 to turn around… and see if it was it and I just lit it up and he took off… Hey, he, he popped them around some rounds off into my windshield as I was bailing out… I’m fairly certain he shot her, I mean, she got a shot to her head… she’s 109 D, she’s the best time.”
Following the incident, Hopkins faces a slew of charges. Fayette County has charged him with kidnapping and aggravated assault, while Clayton County has added charges including murder and possession of a weapon. His next court appearance is scheduled for August 7th. This chilling case serves as a stark reminder of the devastating impact of domestic violence and the importance of seeking help and support.
