Two more defendants were convicted by a Clayton County jury this week in the Libby Lane home invasion case that involved a group of alleged gang members shooting two children sleeping in their beds in 2016, officials said.
Devin Dunson, 27, and Christopher Spencer, 28, were both found guilty on dozens of charges Wednesday, including malice murder, and sentenced to life in prison without parole, according to Clayton court records.
The two men were among 12 charged in the case, which involved several suspected members of the Rollin 20s Crips street gang storming a home on Libby Lane in retaliation for the theft of a gang member’s guns, Clayton police said. The intended target, authorities said, was then-15-year-old Deundre Mitchell, who left the home a day earlier to stay with other suspected gang members in DeKalb County. Instead of shooting Mitchell, the attackers killed 11-year-old Tatiyana Coates and 15-year-old Daveon Coates as they slept in their beds.
After this week’s convictions of Dunson and Spencer, only two defendants’ cases remain open. Michael Desean White is still fighting his case after entering a not-guilty plea, court records show. He has been held in the Clayton jail without bond since at least April 2018, according to online records.
Mitchell’s case also remains unresolved, court records show. Though he was 15 at the time of the incident, officials said they believe he incited the shooting by stealing guns from a rival gang member. He is charged with two counts of murder.
At least two other defendants in the case have been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Jury deliberations lasted just 20 minutes before Jamon Marquice Bynum was found guilty and sentenced in May 2019. In February 2022, Vernon Jerome Beamon entered a nolle prosequi plea and was sent to prison for life as well, court records show.
Three others resolved their cases in 2019. Jamar Rashaad Mitchell entered a nolle prosequi plea and received a 20-year sentence but is expected to be released in April 2025, according to Georgia Department of Corrections records. Amir Chance Nelms entered a negotiated guilty plea and was sentenced to 20 years in prison without parole. Sherman Thomas, who was only charged with filing a false report of a crime, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year in jail.
Melvin Crockett resolved his case in late 2018 when he entered a nolle prosequi plea. He was sentenced on gang, racketeering and gun charges, according to GDC records. He was released in June 2022 after spending three years in jail.
Another two defendants resolved their cases, but their sentences are not clear. In 2020, Sterlin Pate entered a nolle prosequi plea, but his sentence does not appear in the Clayton online court file or in the GDC’s records.
Earlier this year, Jason Currie entered a negotiated guilty plea and received a lengthy prison sentence, court records show. However, he does not appear in records kept by the Clayton jail or GDC. County officials have not responded to questions about Currie’s whereabouts.
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