6 indicted in murder-for-hire plot against Fulton County detention officers

ATLANTA — Several suspects have been indicted for their role in connection to a conspiracy to kill two detention officers in Fulton County.

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Officials said Wayne Alford, Latasha Baker, Matthew Freeman, AKA ‘Coach Poker, ‘Pokerface Matt, and ‘Gotti Freeman, Jaheim Arnold, AKA ‘Slime’ and ‘Toppslime,’ Carlos Pearson, AKA ‘Rico Reflection’ and Rice Rico,’ and Jayden Barnes, AKA ‘Swipe’ and ‘El Swiper, have been indicted for conspiracy to murder two Fulton County Jail detention officers in exchange for money, drugs and guns.

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Court documents revealed Alford, a pretrial detainee at the South Annex Jail, allegedly conspired with others, both in and out of prison, to kill at least two detention officers who had intervened with his contraband and drug trafficking operations.

According to U.S. Attorney Buchanan, Baker, a former detention officer at the jail and Freeman, who was serving a sentence for armed robbery at Valdosta State Prison, is accused of agreeing with Alford to hire and pay people to kill the detention officers. They communicated using contraband cell phones from inside the jail and prison.

Pearson and Barnes presumedly agreed to commit the murders for $1,000 each. The plot failed when the targeted detention officers detected tracking devices attached to the bottom of their cars. Several of the suspects are known to be members of the GoodFellas gang.

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The six-count indictment happened Oct. 22 and was unsealed on Monday.

The suspects in the indictment are charged as follows:

• Wayne Alford, 27, of Milledgeville, was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder for hire, one count of drug trafficking conspiracy, and one count of conspiracy to carry a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.
• Matthew Freeman, 26, of Glennville, was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder for hire, one count of drug trafficking conspiracy, and one count of conspiracy to carry a gun during a drug trafficking crime.
• Latasha Baker, 38, of Hampton, was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder for hire, one count of drug trafficking conspiracy, and one count of conspiracy to carry a gun during a drug trafficking crime.
• Jaheim Arnold, 21, of Atlanta, was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder for hire, one count of drug trafficking conspiracy, and one count of conspiracy to carry a gun during a drug trafficking crime. He’s also charged with one count of possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime and one count of possession of a firearm as a convicted felon.
• Carlos Pearson, 33, of College Park, was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder for hire.
• Jayden Barnes, 19, of Atlanta, was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder for hire.

The FBI, Fulton County Sheriff’s Office and the Georgia Department of Corrections are investigating the case.

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