The DeKalb County District Attorney is offering plea deals to two shooters accused of killing an innocent bystander during a robbery.
The victim’s mother has been waiting more than a year for justice and doesn’t think the deals carry enough time.
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Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes was in DeKalb County Wednesday, where the deadly shooting happened last year.
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The victim, 28-year-old John Battle, was driving down Covington Highway when he turned into a Shell gas station.
What he didn’t know was that seconds before he pulled in, people started shooting at each other. Two bullets hit his victim and killed him.
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His mother, Denine Fernandes said she struggles to get up every morning because “John John,” as she called him, was her best friend.
“I don’t know if we’re ever going to get over this,” Fernandes said. “He was such a good guy. It’s very painful. I mean I’m really shaking right now, just to stand here knowing my son was murdered here and that I’ll never see him again.”
According to investigators, a 14-year-old boy and another gunman were trying to rob someone at the gas station on March 3, 2022. The robbery victim got into a shootout with the gunmen, and as Battle was pulling in with his fiancee and 1-year-old daughter, two bullets hit and killed him.
A spokesperson with the district attorney’s office said the plea deals are still being negotiated.
Fernandes said she believes the now 15-year-old shooter and the second shooter, Ace Benton, need to serve at least 20 years each.
“I think they can be rehabilitated, but they have to pay for what they did,” Fernandes said. “That’s all I’m asking for. I’m not asking them to do 50 or 60 years.”
The DA’s office said they review the facts of every case before they come up with a plea deal and they come to what they believe is a fair and just outcome.
They said their hearts are with the folks affected by the shooting.
The plea hearing is Thursday at 10 a.m. It’s possible that the victim’s mom could still get what she is asking for.
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