Javaris Crittenton: Former NBA Player Charged with Murder

Former NBA player and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets star Javaris Crittenton is wanted by police for the shooting death of a 23-year-old woman in Atlanta, according to multiple media reports.

Per a report from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta police say Crittenton has been charged with murder of Jullian Jones, and that an arrest warrant has been issued for him. He is not yet in custody.

The incident in question occurred on the night of Friday, August 19. Police say Jones, a mother of four, was walking along a street in southwest Atlanta when shots were fired from a black SUV. She was shot in the hip, and later died during surgery.

Police do not believe that Jones was the intended target. She was walking with two men at the time, and the belief is that one of them was the target. Both men were unharmed, and both fled the scene.

The shooting itself was witnessed by several people, and the motive in the case is believed to be a retaliation for an April robbery in which Crittenton was the victim.

Before he broke into the NBA, Crittenton starred as a point guard at Georgia Tech for one season in 2006-07. He posted an average of 14.4 points and 5.8 assists per game, helping to lead the Yellow Jackets to the NCAA tournament. In the 2007 NBA draft, the Los Angeles Lakers selected him with the 19th overall pick.

Crittenton would play in only 22 games in his rookie season for the Lakers before being traded in early 2008 to the Memphis Grizzlies in the famed Pau Gasol trade. Later that year, he was traded to the Washington Wizards.

Crittenton's career took a turn for the worse during the 2009-10 season. On New Year's Day, 2010, it was reported that Crittenton and teammate Gilbert Arenas had drawn guns on each other in the Wizards locker room over an argument concerning gambling debts. Crittenton eventually pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor gun possession charge in late January, and was subsequently suspended for the rest of the season by NBA commissioner David Stern.

Most recently, Crittenton was briefly a member of the Charlotte Bobcats in the fall of 2010 before he was released. After that, he played in China for the Zhejiang Lions. Earlier this year, he signed on to play in the NBA D-League in hopes of resurrecting his career.

As of now, it is believed that Crittenton is in the Los Angeles area, and Atlanta authorities are hoping that he hands himself over.