Clayton County man sentenced for racially-motivated gas station shootings

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. - A Clayton County man will spend the next two decades behind bars after pleading guilty to two gas station shootings.

A federal judge sentenced Larry Foxworth, 48, on Thursday to 20 years in prison. He pleaded guilty to the charges in December 2022.

Prosecutors say Foxworth targeted the two Jonesboro establishments because of the area's high Black population.

The shootings took place in the overnight hours of July 2021. Police say Foxworth drove to the 6000 block of Tara Boulevard and fired shots into the Shell gas station. Soon after, Foxworth drove to a second gas station along Mt. Zion Road and fired shots. 

Officers apprehended Foxworth during a traffic stop after witnessing his 2016 Ford Fusion weaving in and out of traffic. An open container, a bag of ammunition, and spent shell casings were found inside the car. 

 While in custody, he told officers that "I can give you a name, and we can make this disappear" and "this is a hate crime and this is a targeted hit".

Investigators said Foxworth admitted to the shootings at the time of his arrest because he did not like "towel heads" and didn’t like people of color calling them "n----s". He told investigators that "after shooting the first location he went down the road and did a U-turn to come back and shoot the location again." He told investigators he wasn’t aware he was at a second location.

Larry Edward Foxworth (Clayton County Sheriffs Office)

Hate crimes have become a troubling trend in Georgia.

In December, the FBI released a report showing an increase in the number of hate crimes from 195 reports in 2020 to 238 in 2021.

The rise in hate crimes comes despite Gov. Brian Kemp signing new legislation in June 2020.

Under the new hate crimes law, sentences increase for crimes motivated by bias against a victim in several categories, including race, sexual orientation or physical disability.