DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A man accused of shooting and killing a 19-year-old in Stone Mountain in 2023 has been found guilty.
Malachi Coleman, now 23, was convicted of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and more in the shooting death of Jayce Pirtle, 19, and the shooting of her 16-year-old sister.
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Prosecutors say that Coleman went to a neighborhood on Arbor Ridge Drive on Jan. 2, 2023 dressed in all black and gunned down the girls while Pirtle begged for her life.
Video footage from a nearby house caught the shooting on video. In it, prosecutors say a man can be seen chasing the girls and standing over the surviving victim before shooting her twice.
The shooter can then be seen running off-screen after Pirtle.
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The video captured audio of Pirtle shouting, “Malachi stop, please please, Malachi, no!” before two more gunshots can be heard. Pirtle died from a single gunshot wound to the head.
Coleman was dating a friend of the victims and became upset with them when his girlfriend spent New Year’s Eve with them and their male relatives instead of spending it with him, prosecutors argued.
Judge Yolanda Parker-Smith sentenced Coleman to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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