A man has been convicted in the murder of Jabari Pettway, who was shot multiple times and left in a ditch in 2016, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Melvin Roberts, 28, was convicted of murder, aggravated assault and theft Tuesday afternoon after a weeklong trial.
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Pettway’s body was found in a ditch along Lenora Church Road in Snellville on Nov. 2, 2016. Prosecutors said Roberts, who went to high school with Pettway, took Pettway’s car to southwest Atlanta and burned it after the killing.
Roberts did not testify in his defense during the trial. He said in outbursts during the trial that the charges were based on faked evidence and there was a conspiracy against him.
Judge Warren Davis began the sentencing process after the verdict was deliverered around 5 p.m. The only sentencing options for a murder conviction are life in prison with the possibility of parole or without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors did not seek the death sentence against Roberts.
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