A man is headed to prison after he was convicted of killing the owner of towing company outside a DeKalb County gas station in a hail of bullets meant for someone else.
Victor Richardson, 26, was sentenced Friday to 50 years in prison in the shooting death of 44-year-old Christopher Harrold, but officials with the DeKalb district attorney’s office said he was actually aiming for Harrold’s employee. The 38-year-old employee was also injured.
Harrold, the owner of Fast Action Towing based in Fairburn, was training a new employee on May 17, 2022, when they stopped at a gas station along Columbia Drive. The employee saw Richardson and went to speak to him because Richardson allegedly owed him money, according to the district attorney’s office.
Credit: DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office
Credit: DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office
The conversation became tense, and at some point, authorities said the employee took a handgun from Richardson and threw it into the woods. The employee then returned to the tow truck.
The DA’s office said Richardson also returned to his car and then drove up to the employee and pointed a rifle at him. The employee pulled out his own gun and fired several shots at Richardson, officials added.
According to surveillance video, Richardson then drove out of the gas station, pointed the rifle at the employee and fired multiple times. Harrold, who had never gotten out of the tow truck, was fatally struck.
Richardson drove away from the scene, and his vehicle was later found by investigators parked at his mother’s home with the rifle still inside. Authorities said his DNA was on the trigger.
A jury on Wednesday found Richardson guilty of voluntary manslaughter, felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony related to the shootings of both victims.
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