After six months of coordinated efforts by local and federal law enforcement, Dontavious Morgan has been arrested for charges in connection to the Dec. 23 murder of Niko Hurston.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Morgan was arrested by members of the U.S. Marshals Service and the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team at a home on Commander Drive in Columbus. Morgan was then transported to the Troup County Jail, where he will be held until his court date, according to the LaGrange Police Department.

Hurston was 18-years-old when he was shot in the chest near the intersection of Troup Street and Jenkins Street. He was transported to WellStar West Georgia, where he later died due to the injury. According to LPD, Hurston was walking with two other people prior to the shooting incident, and the suspect, later identified as Morgan, was said to have arrived and fled the scene in a car.

According to a LPD press release, warrants were obtained for his arrest by LPD Detectives on Dec. 26, 2018, and numerous attempts were made to arrest Morgan in LaGrange and the Troup County area. When information indicated that Morgan had left the area, the LPD turned to the United States Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force for help.

“Shortly after we obtained the warrant, we began the search here in the City of LaGrange and the Troup County area,” Strickland said. “Every time we would get information, we would actively pursue him in trying to locate him and arrest him here. Det. Ligon received information that he had actually left the area and was possibly even out of the state, up the east coast. It was at that time that he contacted the U.S. Marshals Office and asked for their assistance in trying to locate this individual.”

Strickland said that the Marshals Office has continued to work with LPD since then, and searches were conducted in parts of Georgia and Alabama. Members of the U.S. Marshals Service actively pursued Morgan for approximately five months in Georgia and several other states on the east coast, according to the press release.

“We are very happy to get him off the street, and we are also happy to be able to report to the family of the victim in the case that the person is now custody,” Strickland said. “It gives them some closure. Of course, the complete closure would only be after the court year is completed and the judication is made, but they have some sense of relief that he has been arrested and will be held in jail.”

Strickland encouraged anyone with additional information on the case to the LPD at (706) 883-2603 or to call Troup County Crime Stoppers at (706) 812-1000. Tips may also be submitted to the LaGrange Police Department via Facebook.