DeKalb County man convicted of murder in death during 'hate-motivated' robbery
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - A Stockbridge man accused of killing a 28-year-old in what police called a "hate-motivated" crime has been found guilty of multiple counts of murder.
On Monday, a DeKalb County jury found 25-year-old Joshua Cortez Ellis on charges of malice murder, three counts of felony murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a first offender probationer.
On the morning of June 4. 2019, 28-year-old Ronald "Trey" Peters III was walking to the nearby MARTA station on Orchard Circle to go to work when two men came out of a nearby maroon truck, put on masks, and demanded him to give them his bag.
Ronald "Trey" Peters
Witnesses told police that one of the men, who they later identified as Ellis, shouted "give me your bag fa****," before opening fire, shooting Peters in the chest.
While Peters was on the ground, Ellis shot him again in the neck before taking his bag. Medics rushed Peters to a local hospital, where he died.
According to the Peters' partner, a week before his death he had been harassed by two men who called him the same gay slur.
Using the victim's phone, investigators say they found multiple alerts that Peters' debit card had been used after the shooting.
Joshua Cortez Ellis (DeKalb County Sheriff's Office)
One of the places the card had been used was a gas station in Lithonia. Through surveillance footage, investigators followed the suspects' maroon truck to a nearby Walmart and got images of Ellis and codefendants Tyreese Johnson and Shaleeya Moore going into the store.
The truck was later found in Atlanta. It had been reported stolen in a carjacking in Clayton County the day before Peters' murder.
After taking the three men into custody, authorities say one of the defendants told them Ellis shot Peters before he could make it around the truck.
A DeKalb County Superior Court judge has scheduled a sentencing hearing for Peters for Oct. 6.
The cases against Johnson and Moore remain pending.