A man arrested Friday is accused of fatally shooting another man outside a DeKalb County strip club in December, officials said.
Javeon Whitney, 29, was taken into custody at a motel off Lavista Road after authorities said he attempted to flee by kicking out a window. He is facing charges of murder, aggravated assault, possession of a gun during the commission of a felony and possession of a gun by a convicted felon in the death of Jimmy Esgaldo Leon Jr., according to the DeKalb sheriff’s office.
On Dec. 14, Clarkston police officers responded to the parking lot in front of Strokers, an adult entertainment venue, at the Brockett Pointe shopping center around 4 a.m. Leon, 37, was found inside a vehicle shot in the chest, police previously said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Another man was shot in the leg, but the sheriff’s office did not say if he was the intended target or just a bystander.
Leon was born in Jamestown, New York, and was a father of two, according to his online obituary. Officials did not say if he knew Whitney or what may have happened before the gunfire began.
Credit: John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com
Credit: John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com
Whitney is being held at the DeKalb jail without bond. According to online records, he served time from 2015 to 2019 and again from 2020 to 2021 at the Riverbend Correctional Facility in Milledgeville for charges including theft, possession of a gun during the commission of a crime, obstruction of law enforcement and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.
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