Stockbridge man found guilty of killing man during armed robbery

A Stockbridge man was found guilty of the murder of a man he was robbing.

On June 4, 2019, Ronald Peters, 28, was walking near his home on Orchard Circle in unincorporated Decatur at around 8:30 a.m. when he was approached by two men who robbed him at gunpoint.

Witnesses told police the men demanded Peters give them his backpack.

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When he refused, one of the men, later identified as Joshua Cortez Ellis, 25, shot Peters, police say.

According to the DeKalb County District Attorney, Ellis then grabbed the backpack and fired again at Peters.

Witnesses reported hearing another shot as the men drove away.

When police arrived, they found Peters suffering from gunshot wounds to his neck, arm, and torso.

Peters was taken to Atlanta Medical Center where he died.

Investigators viewed surveillance footage from a nearby gas station and Walmart that showed Ellis with his co-defendants Tyreese Johnson, 23, and Shaleeya Moore, 23 in a maroon truck.

Investigators located the truck a few days later in Atlanta and found a possible bullet hole in one of the doors.

The truck had been reported stolen after being carjacked in Clayton County a day before the murder.

The District Attorney said during police interviews Ellis admitted to being in the truck and used Peters’ debit card at a gas station.

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Johnson told investigators they were only going to rob Peters, but said Ellis shot Peters before Johnson made it around the truck.

Moore testified that both Ellis and Johnson got out of the truck with guns and masks. She also admitted to driving the truck away after the shooting.

Ellis was found guilty 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.

Cases against Johnson and Moore on two counts of felony murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony are still pending.

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