Crime & Public Safety
After 6 years on the run, Marietta fugitive faces life for armed robbery
By Ben Brasch
Sept 20, 2016A Marietta man faces life in prison after avoiding police for six years.
Jamar Henry Scott, 37, and two others — another robber, William Richard Stewart, 28 of Decatur, and their driver, April Dawn Gatuma, 42, previously of Smyrna — were charged for a home invasion and armed robbery, according to a news release from the Cobb County district attorney's office.
Two brothers were sitting in their vehicle about 9:30 p.m. the night of Aug. 24, 2009, parked at their Pine Street home when Scott and Stewart approached them with handguns and forced them into the house.
Once inside, the men robbed them and five others of their wallets, cell phones, money and keys, along with a laptop computer.
All three men were charged with seven counts of armed robbery. Stewart and Gatuma pleaded guilty to the charges in 2010 and were sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Scott had been on the lam until Cobb Sheriff’s deputies and U.S. Marshals received a tip in September 2015 that he was in the area and arrested him. Scott was released on bond in February and had been free until a jury convicted him Thursday of all charges after a four-day trial.
Gatuma, the driver, testified against Scott.
In this case, there is a mandatory sentence of life in prison, prosecutors said.
"This man was hiding in plain sight, flying below the radar for six years. He let his driver’s license expire and nothing was in his name,” said Shep Orlow, who prosecuted the case. "But once he was out on bond after being found, suddenly he went back on the grid."
Prosecutors said that Scott forged a power bill to meet the new requirements to renew his driver’s license.
Judge Henry Thompson slated Scott's sentencing for 2 p.m. Oct. 13.
About the Author
Ben Brasch is the reporter tasked with keeping Fulton County government accountable. The Florida native moved to Atlanta for a job with The AJC. If there's something important to you going on in Fulton, he wants to know about it. Help him better metro Atlanta by dropping a line, anonymously or otherwise.
