Police To Retest Atlanta Child Murders Evidence

ATLANTA -- Mayor Keisha Bottoms announced Thursday a joint investigative task force will reopen and retest some of the evidence from the 1970s Atlanta child murders. In a press conference, Bottoms said the task force will be composed of Atlanta police officials, Fulton County and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Modern technology will be used in examining the evidence surrounding the deaths of 22 of the total 29 murders of black youths.

Wayne Williams was the only person ever convicted in connection with the deaths that happened between 1979 and 1981 during the tenure of Atlanta's first black mayor, Maynard Jackson. Williams is serving life sentences after being of the murders of two adults in the Atlanta area. The judge allowed the prosecution to attribute 10 additional victims to him, essentially putting Williams on trial for the entire Atlanta child murders case. To date a killer has never been tried for all 29 murders.

Williams has long maintained his innocence.

Bottoms and Atlanta Police Chief Erica Shields confirmed that technological advances in testing DNA evidence will be the main focus as the cases are reexamined. As law enforcement, we have an obligation to exhaust every conceivable avenue of investigation and make every effort to make sure these families receive closure,” Shields said. "We don’t know what we will find. But what we do know is we have an obligation to these families to ensure that every imaginable investigative lead was followed.”

“It would certainly be in order for us to look once again at evidence that the city of Atlanta has in its possession," Bottoms said, "and once again take a fresh look at these cases and to determine once and for all if there's additional evidence that may be tested that may give some peace - to the extent that peace can be had in a situation like this- to the victims' families."

Produced by executive producer Will Packer, Investigation Discovery’s upcoming "The Atlanta Child Murders" will examine the theories surrounding this decades-old case, sparking new attention on the city of Atlanta and Williams' conviction.

“We are thrilled the Atlanta Police Department has decided to reexamine these cases, and we hope this moves the city one step closer to finding the closure that these families so desperately need and deserve,” said Henry Schleiff, group president of Investigation Discovery, Travel Channel, American Heroes Channel, and Destination America.

“I want to acknowledge and thank my friend Will Packer who is doing a documentary on the missing and murdered children,” Bottoms said Thursday.