Guilty on all counts. That was the verdict given to a man who robbed, shot and killed a father as he was leaving a wedding and waiting on an Uber.
The judge gave 22-year-old Jayden Myrick a sentence where he might not ever walk the streets again. It took the jury about than four hours to come back with a verdict.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Rachelle Carnesale read the verdicts on the 18 counts Myrick faced.
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The counts included felony murder, armed robbery, aggravated battery, aggravated Assault and criminal gang activity.
“In Count 2 Malice Murder, We the jury find the defendant Guilty,” the judge said from the bench.
Myrick heard those words over and over.
“Count 11 Aggravated Assault with a deadly weapon of Christian Broder, we the jury find the defendant guilty,” the judge said.
The jury found Myrick, then 17, was the gunman who robbed 34 year old Christian Broder, his brother and friends as they left a wedding at the Capital City Country Club in Northeast Atlanta in 2018.
They were waiting on an Uber when Myrick, an admitted gang member, murdered Broder. Broder’s sister told the court how his death has affected her and her family.
“He’s missed so much already,” she said during her impact statement.
Her two brothers stood by her side, one holding Christian ashes, as the family asked the judge to show Myrick no mercy in sentencing.
“We’re not asking, but begging you to impose the maximum sentence on this man who is responsible for killing our brother,” she said.
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The judge asked Myrick if he had anything to say before he was sentenced.
“I hope they find the person that killed their family member,” he said.
Prosecutor Chris Sperry then said Myrick has refused to take responsibility and showed the family no respect at every turn.
“He spit in their face ever since he pulled that trigger,” Sperry said.
The judge then sentenced Myrick to Life Without Parole plus an additional three life sentences.
Carnesale seemed taken aback by surveillance video shown in court where Myrick and his codefendants seemed relaxed and carefree hours after the murder.
“No one would guess that someone had just been killed,” she pointed out.
One of Myrick’s codefendants, Torrus Fleetwood, received a 30 year sentence after an Alford plea. The plea means he doesn’t admit guilt but acknowledges the state has enough evidence to convict. He was the driver that night.
Sperry said this verdict shows this community will not tolerate gangs who make our streets unsafe.
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