An 88-year-old woman had just finished sitting down bags of groceries inside her Brookhaven home in the summer of 2022 when a stranger entered through the front door unannounced and flashed a gun.
The woman had been followed by 38-year-old Antavious Bailey, who prosecutors said broke into the home and threatened her life amid demands for her belongings and personal information.
According to the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office, the Conyers man forced the victim to write down her debit card pin number, tied her up with a phone cord and power cable and threw her on the bed in a back bedroom. She was only able to break free and escape after Bailey left the Parkridge Drive residence, prosecutors said.
On Monday, DeKalb Superior Court Judge Yolanda Parker-Smith sentenced Bailey to 15 years in prison without the possibility of parole. He was convicted on nine counts, including home invasion, kidnapping, armed robbery, elder abuse, false imprisonment and identity theft, the DA’s office said.
Brookhaven police tracked down Bailey and arrested him just six hours after the incident on Aug. 2, 2022.
The victim reported the armed robbery to authorities around 12:15 p.m. Shortly after, she began getting fraud alerts from her banks, which notified her about purchases being made near Buckhead. The woman told responding law enforcement that Bailey had demanded her wallet and went through her purse. Prosecutors said he took her cellphone, driver’s license, health insurance cards, bank cards and cash.
Investigators looked at surveillance footage that showed a white car — which had been rented by Bailey — following the woman home from a Publix in her neighborhood, according to the DA’s office. Detectives also obtained footage that showed him using her bank cards at several shops in Buckhead.
Police tracked Bailey to the 100 block of Fulton Street in southeast Atlanta, where he was arrested. Prosecutors said he possessed an illegal firearm and had the victim’s credit cards on him at the time.
Bailey also pleaded guilty to charges of financial transaction card fraud, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
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