An Atlanta man fueled by “violent jealousy” will spend the rest of his life behind bars for fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend’s family friend at close range the day after Thanksgiving in 2021, prosecutors said Monday.
Carlos Dill, 26, was found guilty this month in the killing of 24-year-old Jonathan Stafford, who was walking with the woman outside her southwest Atlanta apartment complex early Nov. 26, when Dill snuck up behind him and shot him six times, the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. A judge sentenced him to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole plus an additional 15 years, prosecutors said.
“Driven by violent jealousy, the defendant resorted to shooting his ex-partner’s family friend at close range while she begged him to stop,” District Attorney Fani Willis said in a statement.
At around 12:45 a.m. that day, officers responded to the Crystal Heights apartments in the 3400 block of Boulder Park Drive, where they found Stafford suffering from several gunshot wounds. He was taken to the hospital but died from his injuries, police said.
According to prosecutors, Dill had become furious after the ex-girlfriend, Tatiana Willis-Riley, decided to spend Thanksgiving with Stafford’s family instead of him. Dill frequently texted and called Willis-Riley that day. In addition, he also had made visits to her workplace and tried to break into her home, the DA’s office said.
She was scared.
That fear led Stafford to escort Willis-Riley and her children to the apartment complex to ease her mind and protect her, according to the DA’s office. But Dill was watching them from the shadows.
He snuck between cars in the parking lot, prosecutors said, until he came out from hiding and held a gun to the back of Stafford’s head. Willis-Riley pleaded with Dill as shots rang out in the parking lot, according to prosecutors.
The DA’s office said audio of the encounter was captured by one of the several high-definition security cameras nearby. Her children were inside the apartment at the time of the shooting.
That same day, investigators secured an arrest warrant for Dill. He was taken into custody at a hospital while being treated for injuries related to the incident, police said, and was later booked into the Fulton County Jail.
Credit: Fulton County Sheriff’s Office
Credit: Fulton County Sheriff’s Office
On June 15, a jury found Dill guilty of 11 counts in connection with the killing, including felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He was sentenced the same day.
“The weight of this murder on Ms. Willis-Riley and the family of Mr. Stafford is unimaginable,” Willis said, “and I sincerely hope they can find some solace in this conviction.”
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