In the minutes before his death, 26-year-old Justuss Rogers posed for a photo with a load of cash, a photo that DeKalb County police believe led to his death.
A woman he’d spent the day with running errands for his small cell phone business shared the shot with a “group chat” of men, who decided to rob him, Detective V.R. Van Hees testified Thursday. The detective said the woman, Lakoaia Johnson, 20, then convinced Rogers to take her to an address off South Hairston Road.
When they got there, a man with a gun pulled Johnson out of the car and shot Rogers dead, according to the testimony.
Van Hees was testifying in a probable cause hearing for Johnson's co-defendant, Gregory Montgomery, 18, who is accused of participating in planning the robbery.
Montgomery was identified as one of at least five people in the group chat, the detective said.
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Another person involved was allegedly Shamar Davis, 17, who told police, “All I know is there was a setup going on in the group chat.” He also implicated Montgomery, a long time friend, Van Hees said.
It isn’t clear who police believe the man who pulled the trigger was. They arrested a man they believed had been the shooter, but his charges were thrown out in an earlier hearing.
Van Hees said the police department is working on arresting the shooter, as well as the fifth suspect.
In the meantime, Judge Richard Foxworth found probable cause for the state to proceed with its case against Montgomery.
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