MEMPHIS, Tenn. — People in two different neighborhoods were wondering the same thing, could the senseless murders of a seven-year-old and a 15-year-old be connected?

Carlos Stokes, 22, was arrested Wednesday night on first-degree murder charges.

Stokes was the brother of 15-year-old Cateria Stokes.

She was shot and killed just before 2:00 a.m. on April 10 while sleeping in her bed in a home at 4581 Cottonwood.

A 61-year-old man was also shot there.

The night before Cateria was shot, a 22-year-old man was shot at a home on Durby Circle, which was about five miles from Cottonwood.

The next afternoon 7-year-old Kirsten Williams was shot and killed while she played outside a home also on Durby Circle.

According to an affidavit, one of Carlos Stokes’ co-defendants identified him as the person who planned that shooting in retaliation for the shooting of the 22-year-old.

Police said the shooting of the 22-year-old was drug and gang related.

Carl Johnson, 19, Jordan Clayton, 21, and Branden Brookins, 19, were arrested last week and charged with first-degree murder for the killing of Williams.

While many people in the neighborhood where the killings took place believed the girls’ murders were related, police would not confirm that on Thursday.

They also didn’t say if Kirsten was the intended target when she was shot.

Neighbors on both of the streets where the murders took place were shocked and saddened by the news.

“One of them gonna go to jail, another in the grave. Wow man, that’s something else,” said Wally Jones as he shook his head.

Jones lived across the street from where Cateria Stokes was killed sleeping in her bed.

“It’s so much pain, a grave can’t even hold it,” said Willie P. Baker, who lived less than five miles away on Durby Circle.

“I heard these gunshots and all I could think of is my grandchildren are out there,” she said.

“It’s sad for these kids to get caught up in these things, they don’t know what’s going on, what’s coming, what’s going to happen tomorrow,” said Jones.

Both of the streets served as memorials; reminders the two girls were taken from the world too soon as neighbors hoped for justice and the truth.

“It’s gonna surface. I’m not even worried about it; it’s gonna surface,” said Baker.

“I hope they do get down to the bottom of what happened to that child because that’s really sad,” said Jones.

WREG looked into the criminal history of Carlos Stokes and learned he was no stranger to the law.

We traced records back to June of 2013 and found he was charged with disorderly conduct, criminal trespassing and evading arrest.

Those charges were dismissed.

A few months later in August of 2013 he was found guilty of unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a controlled substance.

Charges of possession of cocaine with intent to sell, possession of a firearm, and a slew of other charges were also dismissed.

Carlos Stokes was scheduled to be in court Friday morning.