The fate of Reginald Lofton, the teenager charged with murder in the shooting death of a Papa John's delivery driver, is now in the hands of a Gwinnett County jury.
Lofton, now 15 years old, is being tried as an adult in the case and faces three different murder charges, plus aggravated assault and armed robbery.
After a week of testimony, the jury began deliberating around 10 a.m. Friday.
Lofton, and 21-year-old Jermaine Young were arrested following the March 1 shooting at the Wesley Herrington Apartments near Lawrenceville. Authorities believe the duo lured 28-year-old Papa John's driver Shane Varnadore to a building near their apartment under the guise of a routine delivery.
Varnadore was shot and killed instead.
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Prosecutor Sabrina Nizam and other authorities that testified during the trial readily admitted that they do not know who actually killed Varnadore but argued that, under Georgia's party to a crime laws, it didn't matter. Nizam posited that Lofton provided the cellphone used to place the pizza order and the gun used to kill Varnadore, and that the teenager then acted as a lookout.
In a police interrogation shown to jurors, Lofton admitted that he knew Young planned to rob Varnadore, that he watched the incident from a nearby breezeway and that he scooped the pizza up after Varnadore was killed. He and attorney Leanne Chancey claimed, however, that he didn't actually participate in the crime.
Young has not yet been tried.
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