A Cobb County judge sentenced two men to prison time Thursday for beating a 17-year-old drug dealer.
Lamar Antoine Hendrix, of Smyrna, is set to spend 15 years in prison, and Van Alexander Pride, from Indiana, was sentenced to five years in prison, according to a Cobb district attorney’s office news release.
Hendrix is 21 years old and Pride is 19.
The pair had agreed to buy a half ounce of marijuana from the 17-year-old on Sept. 12, 2016, according to a police warrant. This happened in the 1800 block of Roswell Road.
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Hendrix told Pride to take the drugs from the young man instead of paying for it, and they struggled over the drugs, according to the warrant.
Hendrix pistol-whipped the young man, and Pride ended up with the marijuana.
Prosecutors said Hendrix hit him so hard it broke the magazine of the gun.
They also took his iPhone 6s and car keys, the warrant said. The victim told police that he recognized Hendrix and Pride as classmates from Wheeler High School.
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“These two men preyed on a kid they thought was vulnerable and weak, thinking he would be too afraid to tell anyone what they’d done to him — but they were wrong,” said prosecutor Maria Batres.
Batres spoke to the fact that this happened during a drug deal.
“The jurors of Cobb County sent a message with their verdict that anyone who suffers a violent, unjustified attack like this deserves justice, no matter the situation.”
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