A 19-year-old Stone Mountain man will spend his next 15 years in prison for the Oct. 2018 armed robbery of two teenagers at a Woodstock park.
Moses Albert Diamond was arrested after he and another suspect pulled out guns and ordered the teens to lay face down in the parking lot off River Glen Drive, the Cherokee County District Attorney’s Office said. They stole two iPhones and a wallet from their victims after telling the teens they would be shot if they got up.
Diamond and his accomplice then fled the scene in a green minivan driven by Diamond’s sister, Chloe Castell, authorities said. Cherokee County deputies arrested the siblings after tracking the van to their Kennesaw hotel.
Credit: Cherokee County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Cherokee County Sheriff's Office
During his three-day trial, prosecutors presented social media photos of Diamond posing with a gun that resembled the weapon used in the armed robbery, prosecutors said. He was sentenced to 20 years with 15 to serve behind bars after being convicted of two counts of armed robbery and two counts of aggravated assault.
“This defendant has no respect for the laws of Georgia,” Deputy Chief ADA Zach Smith said. “He involved his teenage sister in this senseless crime, then refused to identify his accomplice. And, during the trial, he tried to influence his sister’s testimony.”
At her hearing last July, Castell pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery for her role as the getaway driver. She was sentenced to eight years but was only required to serve the first 180 days in custody.
One of the reasons her brother received such a lengthy sentence is that he was sentenced as a recidivist,” Cherokee County District Attorney Shannon Wallace said.
“We’re pleased with the outcome of this trial and the sentence,” Wallace said. “This recidivist offender came to an isolated park in Woodstock and used a handgun to commit armed robbery. Those teens will forever remember the horror of being forced to lie face down while being threatened with their lives.”
As part of his sentence, Diamond is forbidden from speaking with his sister or any known gang members or associates, authorities said.
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