Two 22-year-old men pleaded guilty to the murder of former boxing champion O’Neill Bell and were sentenced to prison Tuesday.
Tycorion Davis and Quintavius Robinson both admitted that the homicide was an attempt to elevate their status as members within an Atlanta street gang, Fulton County District Attorney Paul L. Howard said in a news release.
The two pleaded guilty to murder, armed robbery and participation in criminal street gang activity, the release said. Davis and Robinson were sentenced to 35 years in prison, and Davis will serve five more years on probation after his prison time.
On Nov. 25, 2015, the two men, who were both armed, exited a stolen red PT Cruiser and robbed a 28-year-old man who exiting a MARTA bus, AJC.com previously reported. Bell, who was also getting off the bus, then got into a fight with the two robbers.
MORE: Atlanta police arrest man in killing of boxer; two more men sought
Credit: LOUIE FAVORITE
Credit: LOUIE FAVORITE
As the fight continued, Davis and Robinson then shot Bell in the chest, and he died at the scene. As the two suspects ran away, they fired an addition shot that hit the 28-year-old man they initially robbed, but he survived the shooting.
“It was a crime of opportunity,” Atlanta police Lt. Charles Hampton, commander of the homicide unit, said in 2015 following their arrests. “Unfortunately for these victims, (the robbers) saw an opportunity and took it.”
Davis allegedly told Robinson prior to Bell’s murder that “I am going to kill someone,” which Robinson responded by saying, “I am with you,” the release said.
The homicide was the end of a series of crimes committed by Davis, Robinson and Cortez Williams, who was 16 years old at the time, the release said. Williams pleaded guilty to stealing the PT Cruiser that Davis and Robinson were in on the day of the deadly shooting, the release said.
The night before Bell’s murder, Robinson and Williams robbed a woman at gunpoint as she exited a MARTA bus, and all three suspects carjacked a mother and daughter’s car in Clayton County, the release said.
For Williams’ role in the crime spree, he was sentenced Monday to eight years in prison, which will be followed by seven years on probation, the release said.
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