The suspects accused of killing two men in a crash while fleeing Atlanta police in a stolen vehicle have been charged with murder, authorities said. And this isn’t the first time the driver has been accused of killing someone.
Atlanta police officers on Wednesday attempted to stop Marguell Scott and Emmanuel Fambro, both 19, after spotting a Jeep Grand Cherokee that was reported stolen during an earlier carjacking at a Wells Fargo ATM, Atlanta police said.
Credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office
The SUV fled police at high speeds before running a red light and slamming into another car at the intersection of Campbellton Road and Lee Street, killing two people in that vehicle, authorities said.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victims as 43-year-old Mark Hampton and 44-year-old Jermaine Jackson. Both lived in southwest Atlanta, officials said.
RELATED: 2 dead after stolen vehicle slams into car during police chase
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
At a vigil Thursday night for the two men killed in the wreck, their families spoke to Channel 2 Action News about the people they cared for and the good they did.
Relatives said Jackson recently moved back in with his mother as she battled cancer, and Hampton’s mother said he had just picked up medicine for his disabled 11-year-old son before the crash.
“He stuck by his son 24 hours a day,” Deborah Hampton told Channel 2. “It’s a great loss. My heart is just broken.”
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Hampton's family has set up an online fundraiser to raise money for his funeral expenses.
The crash also involved three other vehicles, whose occupants suffered minor injuries.
On Thursday, police spokesman Sgt. John Chafee said police were familiar with both Scott and Fambro, who had regular run-ins with law enforcement.
Scott, the driver of the SUV, was acquitted of a murder charge during a September trial, Chafee said. According to Fulton County Superior Court records, he was also cleared of aggravated assault, armed robbery, home invasion, cruelty to children and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony charges.
Scott was one of three men accused of robbing and killing Rashaud Broner Sr. in front of his family at a southwest Atlanta apartment in August 2018, court records show.
According to an Atlanta police report, officers were dispatched to the Aspen Courts apartments on Stanton Road that night after receiving a call about a shooting.
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Broner, who had been shot in the abdomen, was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he died about three hours later, according to Scott’s indictment.
Scott’s co-defendants, Darius Demon Clark and Jarmaine Quinzavious Reynolds, were also acquitted on all counts, court records show.
In a statement, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said his office has tried 341 murder cases since 2013, losing just 24.
“It is rare for the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office to lose a murder case, but the one involving Marguell Scott in September 2019 is an example of what can happen in our system of justice,” Howard said Thursday. “We felt that the defendant was guilty, but the jurors saw it differently and chose to find Scott not guilty of murder. That is the system in which we operate, and we respect the jury’s verdict. What is so troubling is when a defendant receives another chance, as Scott did, and instead chooses to continue a life of crime and ultimately becomes responsible for the tragic deaths of two innocent people.”
In addition to felony murder, Scott’s latest charges include first-degree homicide by vehicle, serious injury by vehicle, theft by receiving a stolen auto, obstruction of officers, fleeing and attempting to elude police, criminal damage to property, reckless driving and failure to obey a traffic control device, police said.
Fambro is charged with obstruction and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony after investigators discovered a gun on him following the fatal crash.
A second gun that had been reported stolen was located inside the Jeep, Chafee said.
Both men were injured in the crash and taken to Grady, according to police. Fambro was booked into the Fulton County Jail on Thursday. Scott had not been booked because he is still in the hospital.
“Investigators continue working to determine whether Scott and Fambro are connected to any other crimes,” including the carjacking, Chafee said.
Following the deadly crash, Deputy Chief Jeff Glazier defended the officers’ decision to chase the stolen vehicle.
“It does fall within our standard operating procedure,” Glazier said. “We don’t chase everyone. We’re very strict on who we allow our officers to chase. In this case, since the vehicle was taken (at) gunpoint — it was a carjacking — we did allow the chase to continue.”
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