Three young Mableton men convicted of murder in a dispute over gang colors were sentenced to life in prison Monday.
Earlier this month, Johnathan Donald Anthony, 19; Antonio Shantwan Pass, 20; and Jekari Oshay Strozier, 21, were found guilty of the beating death of Joshua Chellew, 36, also of Mableton, in 2013. A fourth man, Kemonta Bonds, was acquitted of all charges.
The younger men attacked Chellew when he brandished a blue bandanna at them at a Chevron station at 6211 Mableton Parkway, which infuriated them because they were members of the Re-Up gang that wear red and camouflage, authorities said. The Re-Ups are affiliated with the Bloods and blue is the color of the their arch enemies, the Crips street gang.
Chellew, who was drunk at the time, tried to escape and the men pursued him across the highway, where the beat him unconscious in the unlit roadway and left him, investigators said. He was then run over by a passing vehicle.
The victim’s mother, Donna Hogan, tearfully read a statement to the court Monday afternoon.
“Joshua was my only child, and when your only child dies, you’re no longer a mother,” she said. “This is a heinous crime that has been committed against my son and my family.”
The four men on trial were black, while Chellew was white. There were some calls for prosecution as a hate crime, but officials determined those charges were not warranted.
The case attracted considerable pre-trial publicity, with numerous conservative-leaning websites claiming that the attack on Chellew was racially motivated.
The furor died down somewhat after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that surveillance footage from the service station revealed Chellew wasn’t likely singled out because of his race.
Cobb Superior Court Chief Judge Adele Grubbs sentenced Anthony to life plus 15 years to serve consecutively, to be followed by 30 years on probation.
Grubbs also sentenced Strozier to life plus 15 years to serve consecutively, to be followed by 30 years on probation. Pass was sentenced to life, to be followed by 15 years on probation.
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