One man was robbed at an inn. Another man was sleeping in his car. A third guy was sitting on a patio.
All, police say, were fatally by members of DeKalb-based gang the Hate Committee.
A jury convicted on Thursday Joseph Broxton, 22, and Daniel Pena, 24, for killing three people and wounding three others following a series of attacks during the summer of 2015, DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Yvette Jones said in a news release.
Broxton and Pena were ordered by Hate Committee gang leaders to seek out “violators,” who either pretended to be in their gang or didn’t follow gang rules, Jones said.
“Even though the members were given orders to seek out violators,” Jones said, “many of the people who were killed or wounded were innocent victims, two of whom were targets of a robbery.”
The Hate Committee is a subset of nationally-known Gangster Disciples.
The gang’s deadly crime spree started July 3, 2015, Jones said, when the duo tried to rob Edward Chadman at a Stone Mountain Inn.
Chadman was shot and killed trying to defend himself.
Nearly a month later, the gang was involved in four shootings, two of them deadly, in less than 24 hours, Jones said.
On July 30, 2015, Broxton, Pena and other gang members stopped at the Hairston Square apartment complex about 2 a.m. and Broxton shot a man five times, Jones said. That man survived.
Four hours later, about 6:22 a.m., the gang tried to rob Oliver Campbell as he was sleeping in his truck. Once he woke up, Campbell was shot in the neck and his leg. He died at the scene, Jones said.
That evening about 8:50 p.m., the gang spotted who they thought was a rival gang member.
Broxton and Pena parked their stolen car and fired shots at the man, Jones said. As the men exchanged gunfire, a bystander was shot in the leg.
Another hour later, the gang members opened fire on two people sitting on a patio outside a unit at the Landmark apartment complex.
Roxqwell Nelson, was shot six times and later died, Boston said. His friend was shot 11 times and survived.
Two other gang members who were indicted in connection with the crime spree pleaded guilty and were sentenced, Jones said.
Broxton and Pena face multiple life-without-parole prison terms when sentenced on May 19.
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