A Gwinnett County man who carefully planned and executed a revenge killing for the shooting of his nephew was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison after he shot the wrong man.
Evidence presented at trial showed that after shooting and killing the misidentified man, Jamaar Bracey wrote on Facebook, “Hurt me? I’ll let karma do its job. Hurt my family? I’ll become karma.”
Bracey, who lived in Lawrenceville, believed that 22-year-old Shawn Gray was responsible for a drive-by shooting in Chicago that injured his nephew Jan. 6, Cobb County District Attorney Flynn D. Broady Jr. said in a news release Wednesday.
After his nephew was shot in the neck, “Bracey immediately started stalking a group on Facebook whom he believed was responsible solely because they had previously lived at the residence where the shooting occurred,” Broady said.
Unaware of any connection to Bracey or his nephew’s shooting, Gray traveled to the Atlanta area in January with his girlfriend and her son to celebrate her birthday. On Jan. 14, Bracey discovered they were in town thanks to a Facebook post that included information about the hotel where they were staying.
Bracey began to stalk Gray at his hotel, the Courtyard Marriott in Vinings, Broady said. Bracey traveled to the hotel on three occasions. On Jan. 15, he put a GPS tracker on Gray’s rental car and tracked the car for 24 hours. Bracey texted his sister and his co-defendant, Ashley Davis, about the tracker and Gray’s whereabouts.
On Jan. 17 around 3:30 a.m., Bracey followed Gray to the hotel in a car driven by Davis, Broady said. He snuck up on Gray with a handgun and fired six shots, hitting Gray four times. Gray tried to run but fell down a rocky embankment outside the hotel to his death.
The following day, a hotel maintenance worker found Gray’s shoes with blood on them and his multiple cellphones, Broady said. Hotel staff called the police around noon, and once officers arrived they found Gray’s body. They then watched the hotel’s surveillance video, “and it was obvious this was a targeted murder,” Broady said.
Officers were able to identify Bracey and Davis from the available evidence. Davis was arrested a few days later, and detectives were able to identify Bracey as the shooter based on social media and geolocation data, according to the news release. Bracey was arrested in North Carolina in February.
“There was no evidence ever found that Gray had any association with Bracey or his nephew other than dating the mother of someone who formerly lived at the Chicago residence where Bracey’s nephew was shot,” Broady said.
Senior Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Green, who led the prosecution, called Bracey a “monster.”
“He followed, stalked and tracked Shawn for three days before repeatedly pulling the trigger,” Green said. “It was calculated, wanton and coldblooded. Because of this defendant, Shawn’s children will grow up without their father — and for no reason.”
Bracey was found guilty of murder by a Cobb jury Sept. 21, Broady said. The following day, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole, plus five years.
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