Five people involved in the 2018 killing of a Cobb County father of three were sentenced to prison time for their roles in the robbery attempt-turned-murder.
Delayed since early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the trial centered on the murder of 25-year-old Daniel Perez, Cobb District Attorney Flynn Broady said Friday in a news release announcing the sentences. Each of the five defendants will go to prison for varying lengths of time.
The teenager who fired the fatal shot, 18-year-old Gustavo Hernandez-Ortiz, was found guilty Aug. 27 of all charges, including four counts of murder, Broady said. Hernandez-Ortiz, who was 15 at the time, was sentenced to life in prison plus 15 years.
Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office
Devin Thomas, 25, orchestrated the meeting with Perez and had previously entered a guilty plea, according to the news release. Thomas was also sentenced to life in prison.
Their co-conspirators, who had also previously pleaded guilty, each received lesser sentences.
According to the case presented at trial, Hernandez-Ortiz and his co-defendants planned a robbery of Perez on March 23, 2018. Thomas set up a meeting with Perez to buy some marijuana in a parking lot across the street from North Cobb High School. Thomas walked up to Perez, who was sitting in his car, and spoke to him for a few seconds before Hernandez-Ortiz appeared.
“Hernandez-Ortiz ran up to the car, racked the handgun, and shot Daniel Perez in the back of the head,” Broady said.
Thomas and Hernandez-Ortiz then fled to a getaway car, where three co-conspirators were waiting for them. All three of them — Brittani Hernandez, 21; Charlton Kariuki, 24; and Maria Mungai, 22 — testified that murder was not part of the plan. During the trial, evidence showed that Kariuki had bought the gun and ammunition used to kill Perez.
Kariuki received a 17-year prison sentence, while Hernandez and Mungai received six and two years of jail time, respectively.
Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office
“This is a tragedy all around,” lead prosecutor Senior Assistant District Attorney David Williamson said. “Daniel Perez was a hard-working father of three young children who was killed for absolutely no reason. We have countless friends and family of both the victim and the co-defendants whose lives are forever changed — all because of bad choices made by some really young people.”
At the sentencing hearing, Perez’s father, Tobias Perez, was able to directly address Hernandez-Ortiz.
“I just ask that you reflect and straighten out your life,” he said. “You damaged it at a very young age. I hope that God will forgive you; on my part, I have forgiven you. I just hope that you become a good man for society.”
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