An Atlanta man has been sentenced to a life behind bars following a fatal shooting at a local apartment complex, DeKalb County officials have stated. Chris Jackson, a 20-year-old from the area, was convicted on several charges, including Felony Murder, according to statements by the DeKalb County District Attorney's Office.

The trial, which culminated in a guilty verdict on Friday, dealt with the violent events that unfolded on August 30, 2022, when police responded to reports of gunshots at an apartment on Bedevere Circle. There, authorities discovered Travies Thomas, 40, with multiple gunshot wounds. Despite transport to Atlanta Medical Center, Thomas succumbed to his injuries. Jackson also faced two counts of Aggravated Assault, Armed Robbery and two counts of Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a felony.

A key witness, a woman in the apartment at the time, told police she was showering when she heard the gunshots and was later confronted by a masked man who snatched her iPhone. Another local resident reported seeing two men fleeing the scene in a black BMW SUV. Investigators later pinned down the vehicle, owned by Jackson's girlfriend, linked Jackson to the scene through evidence from Thomas' security cameras and eyewitness accounts.

Jackson's defense claimed he was at the apartment to buy drugs, not to kill. Nevertheless, DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Gregory A. Adams handed down two consecutive Life sentences, plus 30 years following the verdicts. Meanwhile, accomplice Joe Noel, 20, known as "Menace," pled guilty to Voluntary Manslaughter on March 25, 2024, with sentencing still pending. Charges against Enexia Liggons, Jackson's girlfriend, are still on the table. The case was prosecuted by a team that included Senior Assistant District Attorney Jasmine Atakora and Eleanor Friedman, with DeKalb County Police Department Detective Redrick spearheading the initial probes into the murder.