Two Clayton County brothers were each handed a life sentence Tuesday, two weeks after a jury found them guilty of targeting Hispanic victims during a violent crime spree across Brookhaven nearly four years ago, according to police and prosecutors.
Brookhaven police said Edrick Agee and Avonte Treon Fortson committed eight armed robberies, three pistol-whippings and one shooting in the city over 42 days.
On Oct. 24, they were both convicted of armed robbery, while Agee was also found guilty of aggravated assault, according to the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office. Superior Court Judge Shondeana Morris sentenced the brothers to life in prison with the possibility of parole, the DA’s office said.
From December 2019 through January 2020, prosecutors said Agee, 35, and Fortson, 41, robbed their victims at gunpoint during several incidents at apartment complexes along Buford Highway.
The most violent robbery occurred on New Year’s Eve, when they held up a woman and her boyfriend, who was a U.S. Marine, according to the DA’s office. The boyfriend, Jason Diaz, attempted to fight back but was pistol-whipped and shot near his spine, he told Channel 2 Action News.
“The bullet went from my side to the other side of my body,” he said. “That was a miracle ... the doctors told me it almost hit my spine. I got to thank God above that I’m still here.”
The suspects committed the robberies with 32-year-old Elizabeth Edmonds, who served as the getaway driver and shares children with Agee, according to prosecutors. Police said the trio specifically chose their targets believing they were less likely to contact police.
Investigators got a break in the case when one of the victims noticed her stolen bank card was used at a Walmart, prosecutors said. Officers went to the store and identified Edmonds and Fortson as the people who used the card. License plate readers then placed Edmonds’ car in the area where most of the robberies occurred, according to the DA’s office.
“Detectives interviewed Defendant Edmonds who cooperated with police and implicated both Agee and Fortson,” prosecutors said. In February 2022, she pleaded guilty to robbery and was sentenced to eight years of probation.
Agee, of Forest Park, was found guilty of two counts of armed robbery, criminal attempt to commit armed robbery and aggravated assault while Fortson, of Riverdale, was convicted on two charges of armed robbery.
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