Man guilty of killing soldier who helped homeless

Harold Dodson (Credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office)

Harold Dodson (Credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office)

A Fulton County jury found a man guilty of killing an Army sergeant who had just given away money and shoes to a homeless man in Atlanta, officials said Friday.

Harold Dodson did not know U.S. Army Sgt. Ating Eminue, who was on his way to a nearby nightclub on Aug. 30, 2015, when he stopped near the homeless shelter at Peachtree and Pine streets and offered to help a man without shoes.

Sgt. Ating Eminue (Credit: Channel 2 Action News)

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Dodson saw the Lawrenceville man’s “act of kindness and loudly stated that the shoes were a counterfeit brand,” Fulton County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Dontaye Carter said.

Dodson shot Eminue a total of four times in the chest, left arm and scrotum, Carter said. Eminue, who had survived three tours in Afghanistan, died on the scene.

A bystander was shot in the leg, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.

Police identified Dodson as the suspect a day after the deadly shooting, but did not arrest him until Oct. 23, 2015, Carter said. They caught him hiding in his father’s kitchen cabinet.

After the guilty verdict, Dodson was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years without the possibility of parole.

In other news:

Both former officers could face criminal charges after two cellphone videos captured the attacks.