A Facebook photo of a 14-year-old holding a gun was presented in Gwinnett County court Friday during a hearing in the murder of a pizza delivery driver.
Reginald Lofton, a 14-year-old who is being charged as an adult, and Jermaine Young, 21, face charges of felony murder, aggravated assault and armed robbery in the shooting death of Shane Varnadore, Gwinnett police Cpl. Deon Washington previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Both Lofton and Young are from Lawrenceville.
Police found Varnadore, a 28-year-old Papa John’s pizza delivery man, dead from an apparent gunshot wound on Tuesday just before midnight on the 1400 block of Herrington Road, Washington said.
Police said Varnador was robbed, shot and left to die.
In court, the lead Gwinnett County investigator testified that both suspects blame each other for pulling the trigger, according to Channel 2 Action News.
“There were several times during the interview with facts changed, the story changed,” Gwinnett Police Detective Matthew Kenck said in court.
Kenck described a search warrant executed in their Lawrenceville apartment the day after the murder. Police believe the suspects hid the murder weapon and magazine inside pancake mix boxes in kitchen cabinets, according to Channel 2. Three of the four pizza boxes delivered that night were behind washers and dryers.
Hours before the murder, investigators testified that photos of the suspects were posted to Facebook, allegedly showing them posing with the same gun used in the murders with readable serial numbers solidifying that claim. Ballistic tests haven’t yet been returned on the gun.
Channel 2 reported the family of Lofton approached Varnadore outside the courtroom, where they said they were sorry for their loss.
“It’s hard. It’s stressful for both families, especially for a 14-year-old boy,” said Lofton’s sister, Porsha Porter.
