A man was convicted of murder this week for his involvement in a 2021 New Year’s Eve fatal shooting, officials said.
Dequavius Franklin, 25, was found guilty Monday of murder, felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, home invasion in the first degree and possession of a firearm during commission of a felony in the Dec. 31, 2021 death of 21-year-old Jaquon Anderson.
“It is a shame that young lives are turned around and cut short by these senseless acts of violence,” Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said in a statement. “I am keeping Mr. Anderson’s loved ones in my prayers, and I hope this conviction brings some sense of justice to them.”
Sentencing will take place at a later date.
According to the DA’s office, Anderson was found dead inside a home on Bethel Drive with multiple gunshot wounds. A witness testified that she and Anderson approached the front door when Franklin and an unknown masked accomplice emerged from the side of the house and pointed guns at them.
The witness left the area, but Anderson was pushed inside by Franklin and his accomplice, where he was shot 10 times. Anderson, who had a gun, fired twice at the intruders, hitting Franklin in the abdomen.
Franklin was taken to the hospital, where he was questioned by detectives, according to the DA’s office. He told them he had been shot near a Waffle House in East Point, but East Point police investigators found no evidence of a shooting.
DNA from a buccal swab matched the blood found at the Bethel Drive scene, investigators said. Franklin was arrested months after the shooting.
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