WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Two Macon men were convicted on Thursday for shooting and killing a man during a Warner Robins armed robbery, the Houston County District Attorney's Office announced in a press release.
Back in 2019, they say Navaneetbhai Patel was shot and killed "without provocation" at the Citgo Express Stop on 700 Russell Parkway.
Over the course of a four-day trial, the Houston District Attorney's Office says they outlined how two men — Roy Ford Jr. and Alvin Bernard Dunn — came from their homes in Macon to Warner Robins to orchestrate the robbery.
After the trial, they were sentenced by Judge G.E. Adams to life in prison.
According to the press release, Ford entered the store and demanded money from the cashier. After the cashier complied, Ford was accused of shooting Patel on his way out of the store, the District Attorney's Office said.
The store owner previously told 13WMAZ that Patel was a family friend.
During the trial, the press release says the prosecutors pointed to DNA evidence connecting one of the men to the scene as well as firearm residue identified in the suspects' vehicle and clothing.
They say witnesses also helped provide a description and, eventually, the Warner Robins Police Department and the Bibb County Sheriff's Office were able to identify the two men.
All told, the prosecutors connected "the puzzle pieces" to demonstrate Ford killed Patel while Dunn served as the getaway driver, the DA's Office said.
The jury believed them, convicting the two in Patel's murder.
Adams sentenced Roy Ford Jr. to life in prison without parole. Dunn received a life sentence with the option of parole.
"Cases like this require a coordinated effort in order to seek justice and obtain a conviction," Houston County DA William Kendall said in the press release. "Without the kind of diligence and dedication displayed here, we would not be able to provide closure to the family. In the end, those who mean to do harm to others in Houston County only have one place they need to be—prison.”
Alongside their murder charges, the two were also charged with robbing the U.S. Post Office at 1040 Pio Nono Avenue roughly a month earlier.