A man was sentenced to life in prison after he “brutally murdered” a Red Roof Inn manager in Clayton County more than three years ago, prosecutors said Tuesday.
After a four-day trial, Antonio Green, 22, was found guilty of murder and other charges last Thursday in the 2021 strangulation of Mehul Vashi, a night manager at the Morrow hotel, according to the Clayton District Attorney’s Office. A judge handed him the life sentence without the possibility of parole.
On Jan. 3, 2021, employees found that Green had been squatting in a room at the hotel on Southlake Plaza Drive, leading Vashi to go there and confront him, prosecutors said. But surveillance video showed that when Vashi got to the door, Green “forcefully pushed” him into the room and closed it behind him, according to the DA’s office.
Vashi would never leave the room alive.
An autopsy showed he died from ligature strangulation and blunt force trauma to his head, the DA’s office said. That type of strangulation typically involves the use of a cord-like object.
According to prosecutors, the footage showed Green, of Morrow, leaving the room a short time later. He was eventually found nearby by Morrow police and admitted to getting into an “altercation” with a man who fit Vashi’s description, the DA’s office said. The shoes and jacket he wore during the killing also tested positive for the victim’s blood.
Prior to his sentencing last week, a Clayton jury found Green guilty on two counts of felony murder and one count each of malice murder, false imprisonment and aggravated assault.
“Our hearts go out to the family and loved ones of Mr. Vashi whose lives have been forever changed by this senseless act of violence,” District Attorney Tasha Mosley said in a statement.
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