A 23-year-old Covington man is facing a murder charge in connection with the Aug. 27 shooting death of his alleged accomplice, police said Thursday.

Martin Clive Leahing and his accomplice, 20-year-old Cedric Spears, were committing an armed robbery with a handgun on Snapfinger Woods Drive in Decatur, DeKalb County sheriff’s spokeswoman Cynthia Williams said.

When the man who was being robbed fired a weapon in self-defense, he killed Spears.

“The shooter will not be charged because he was the victim of an armed robbery. It is being classified as a justifiable homicide,” Lt. Lonzy Robertson previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Leahing is charged with murder because his alleged participation in a crime led to the death of his accomplice, Williams said.

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U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., speaks during a town hall on Friday, April 25, 2025, in Atlanta at the Cobb County Civic Center. (Jason Allen/Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

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