The Douglas County District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday said it will not be pressing charges against a driver accused of fatally shooting a man during a planned gun sale in late January.
Family members had questioned why the shooter was not formally charged after the Jan. 29 killing of 20-year-old Malachi Mitchell. Prosecutors said law enforcement found the driver covered in blood, with Mitchell dead in the passenger seat from several gunshot wounds.
However, DA Dalia Racine shed light on the incident during a Tuesday news conference, saying the driver acted in self-defense after Mitchell tried to rob him by taking a gun back during the deal.
“Based on the totality of the investigation we were left with, we can’t meet the burden of proof to bring formal charges against the driver, so we will not,” Racine said. “The evidence demonstrates that the driver was acting in self-defense as he is lawfully allowed to do.”
According to the DA, Mitchell and the driver, whose identity has not been publicly released, knew each other from school and had arranged to meet for the $800 firearm deal. But Racine said the driver started to feel uneasy after Mitchell tried to change the deal location several times, but he eventually agreed.
The two met inside the car, where Mitchell removed the magazine from the gun and gave it to the driver, who handed over the cash, the DA said. But Mitchell insisted on putting the gun and magazine back together and started to act “strange” once the driver stated he could do it, according to Racine.
Prosecutors said Mitchell then lunged at the driver to take the gun before he grabbed his waistband and said, “I got something for you.” Fearing that Mitchell had another second gun and was trying to set him up, prosecutors said the driver shot him. He then drove away with Mitchell’s body still in the car.
Racine said the driver fled because of fear of Mitchell’s associates, who “bragged about guns and violence” on social media. Seeing that he was covered in blood with a body in the car, the driver was also afraid of what the police might do before he had the chance to explain himself, the DA added.
“He called multiple family members and friends who corroborated that the driver was panicked and fearful,” Racine said. “He did not want to drive to any family or friends’ home, because he was afraid that Mitchell’s associates may be following him, and he didn’t want to put his loved ones in danger.”
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
While on the phone with a family member, officials said the driver was traveling erratically near Thornton Road and I-20 and was pulled over by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. Racine said law enforcement noted he was fearful, extremely cautious, and wouldn’t lower his hands from the air to park the car.
Mitchell was found dead in the vehicle with several gunshot wounds to the back of his head. Deputies also found an AR-style pistol that was separated from the magazine and a Glock 9mm near where the driver’s right leg would have been inside the car, prosecutors said.
After the killing, Racine said attempts to get more information from Mitchell’s side were unsuccessful, “as witnesses were uncooperative and or unwilling to provide additional information.” Her office did speak to one of Mitchell’s family members, who stated they believed he had no intention of selling the gun and was “setting the driver up to rob him of his money and other belongings,” the DA added.
Racine said it was understandable that Mitchell’s mother was unhappy with their decision, which they informed her of Tuesday morning. The driver was told the same day.
“To arrange a private gun sale late at night between parties that do not know each other that well is unwise, but it is not unlawful,” Racine said, adding that the case would likely be closed this week. “This is a tragedy all around. One young person lost their life, and another has to live with the fact that they had to take a life.”
In another Douglas County case, prosecutors are asking for possible alleged victims of Bobby Lee Hart to come forward. Hart was arrested in August and is facing charges in three separate rapes from 2012, 2022 and 2024, according to the DA’s office. During the investigation, officials found potential DNA matches in rape kits going back three decades throughout west Georgia.
“Since Hart’s arrest, further testing and investigation have revealed that Hart is a suspect in multiple sexual assaults dating back to the early 1990s,” Racine said during the same news conference Tuesday. “If there are additional survivors who have come forward in the past and were turned away for various reasons, or who have not come forward yet, we want to send a clear message to those individuals: You are not alone. We are here to listen to you.”
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