A man accused of holding a leadership position in the Young Slime Life street gang was sentenced to life in prison for a 2019 DeKalb County murder, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Cordarius Dorsey and Quintavious Jackson were convicted last week in the armed robbery and fatal shooting of Sulaiman Jalloh, a 39-year-old husband and father of six who was gunned down three years ago outside the Marathon gas station in DeKalb’s Gresham Park neighborhood.
Dorsey, 33, is one of 28 alleged YSL associates set to stand trial next month in a sweeping Fulton County RICO case. Also charged in the high-profile case are award-winning Atlanta rappers Young Thug and Gunna.
Dorsey and Jackson, a 29-year-old with ties to the Slaughter Gang, were convicted Friday in Jalloh’s killing, the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office said. Dorsey was convicted of malice murder, three counts of felony murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and weapons charges. Jackson was convicted of two counts of felony murder along with lesser charges.
Credit: DeKalb County Sheriff's Office
Credit: DeKalb County Sheriff's Office
Both were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
According to prosecutors, Dorsey and Jackson knew their victim often carried large amounts of cash. The two went to the gas station along Gresham Road on October 15, 2019, and were seen on surveillance video waiting for Jalloh to arrive.
When Jalloh pulled up, Dorsey approached his car and confronted him while Jackson served as a lookout, authorities said. Jalloh tried to shut his door, but Dorsey forced it open. The two struggled and Dorsey shot Jalloh in the chest, killing him. Jackson then walked up and grabbed a bag from the victim before leaving the scene. Prosecutors said Dorsey was seen casually walking away.
Jackson was arrested 10 days later after a combination of witness accounts and anonymous tips led detectives to identify him as the accomplice. A search of his home turned up clothing worn by both men during the robbery and fatal shooting, authorities said. Dorsey remained at large for three months before being captured at a College Park hotel in January 2020.
While on the run, authorities said Dorsey searched for news articles about the shooting and sent incriminating messages indicating he knew he was a suspect in the case. Attorney Gerald Griggs, who represented Dorsey in the murder case, said he plans to appeal.
It’s unclear how Dorsey’s conviction may affect his attorney’s approach to the upcoming gang trial in neighboring Fulton. He has a different attorney for that case.
Prosecutors plan to call about 300 witnesses at the trial, which the judge expects could last six to nine months. In that case, Dorsey faces one count of violating the state’s RICO act and one count of conspiracy to commit a crime. According to his Fulton indictment, Dorsey was in the DeKalb jail last spring when he instructed a co-defendant to kill a gang associate who he felt disrespected him by “refusing to put money on Dorsey’s jail account.”
The indictment accuses Dorsey of being an organizer, supervisor, or holding some other leadership position within YSL. Prosecutors say the southwest Atlanta gang was co-founded by Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams. The rapper’s attorneys strongly deny the allegations, saying YSL, or Young Stoner Life is simply the name of Williams’ record label.
The musician is set to appear in a Fulton County courtroom Thursday for a pre-trial motions hearing.
In addition to the gang, drugs and weapons charges laid out in the YSL indictment, the 30-year-old Williams was recently indicted on a host of traffic violations stemming from a May 2021 incident in which he allegedly drove 120 mph in the southbound lanes of I-85 in Atlanta. The latest charges include racing, reckless driving, speeding and a seat belt violation, court records show.
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