A man pleaded guilty to manslaughter Thursday in the death of a Cobb County father three years ago, District Attorney Vic Reynolds said.
Rayshawn ‘Splash’ Rouse, 22, admitted shooting Joseph Montrell Owens, 20, of Douglasville, behind a convenience store on Six Flags Parkway on June 8, 2012, though he told Cobb Police detectives he acted in self defense.
Rouse, who was homeless, was sentenced to 20 years to serve in prison in what prosecutors contended was a killing during a robbery.
Owens ran a couple hundred yards before collapsing near a Marathon gas station after the shooting.
Rouse’s co-defendant, Brandon Jamal ‘Peanut’ Hindsman, now 21, of Mableton, said he and Rouse went there to sell marijuana. He pleaded guilty to violating the drug laws and was sentenced to 10 years with four years to serve in prison.
Hindsman said he did not know Rouse had a gun.
Owens was a student at the Atlanta Art Institute and left behind a son, who is now 4, according to the district attorney.
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