The man accused of killing three people at a Gwinnett County home last year could face the death penalty if the district attorney gets his wish.
DA Danny Porter is seeking the death sentence for Robert Erik Bell, accused of shooting four people, based on “aggravated circumstances,” according to a court document filed in Gwinnett County Superior Court. Three people died in the Sept. 15 shooting and the fourth was seriously injured, according to police.
The killings were “outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible, or inhuman in that it involved torture, depravity of mind or an aggravated battery,” the notice of intent to seek the death penalty states. Bell was charged with three counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault.
Bell, 34, had an assault rifle and was waiting for Angelina Benton, 34; Benton’s 12-year-old son, Joseph McDonald; her 19-year-old godson, Raynard Daniel; and her boyfriend, Justin Cato, to return to Benton’s home after a weekend trip, Gwinnett police previously said. Benton had recently opened up her Anderson-Livsey Road home to Bell, according to police.
The boy and teen were shot moments after walking through the door of the home, Cpl. Deon Washington with Gwinnett County police previously said. Benton was shot four times and didn’t make it inside the home, instead collapsing in a neighbor’s yard, police said. Cato was shot in the leg and survived his injuries.
“They were pretty much ambushed when they got home,” Washington said.
Bell then allegedly ran away from the home and stole a pickup truck about a half-mile away, police have said. It was that truck that later led investigators to Bell, who eluded capture for more than a month.
On Oct. 2, the stolen truck was located in New Orleans, and three weeks later, Bell was found in a homeless shelter and arrested.
Bell fought his extradition to Georgia, but was returned Jan. 31 and booked into the Gwinnett County jail, where he remained Thursday morning without bond. Police have not released information about a possible motive in the shootings.
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