MACON, Ga. — A judge sentenced a teen to life in prison with the possibility of parole on Tuesday, and another teen to 20 years in prison.
According to a release from the Office of the District Attorney Macon Judicial Circuit, the teens were sentenced for the 2018 fatal shooting and armed robbery of 17-year-old Pedro Garcia.
18-year-old Tajah Deshun Coleman plead guilty to felony murder on Tuesday.
On Monday Ja’Reyse Detrez Pollard, 18, plead guilty to armed robbery. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the release says.
Coleman plead guilty just before his trial was set to start in superior court.
The release says if the case went to trial, evidence would show that in Sept. 2018, when both Coleman and Pollard were 17, they gathered at the Houston and Villa Crest intersection around 11:30 p.m. with Garcia.
Coleman and Garcia got into an argument that escalated, and Garcia left to go to a nearby store. That’s when Coleman and Pollard planned to rob him.
Coleman went inside the store and tried to keep arguing, the release says. He started talking about his affiliation with the Bloods and Garcia's with the Crips.
Garcia was ambushed by Coleman while he was on the way home. Coleman tried to rob him at gunpoint, pulling at Garcia’s shirt and gold necklace before he shot Garcia in the chest.
The release says Garcia collapsed and died about 10 feet from the front porch while trying to run home.
Law enforcement got a tip the next day that someone saw Pollard throw a gun into a car, which led them to him. The gun's bullets were a match to the bullet that killed Garcia.
Pollard later admitted his involvement in a statement.
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