A 24-year-old Decatur man convicted Monday for a pair of Labor Day murders was sentenced to two life prison terms.
Derrick Burden was found guilty in Fulton County Superior Court of two counts of murder, six counts of felony murder, one count each of aggravated assault and armed robbery, and weapons offenses for the shooting deaths of Calvin Streater and Samuel Blizzard Jr., court officials said Monday.
Blizzard, 21, and Streater, 26, were found dead on Sept. 5, 2010, inside a Richmond Circle townhome near Downtown Atlanta, police said.
Streater, who was visiting from North Carolina to celebrate Black Gay Pride weekend, was found in a bedroom with a gunshot wound to the head, authorities said.
Blizzard was living temporarily with his cousin at the home, and was found in the living room slumped over the sofa with a gunshot wound in the back of his head.
Blizzard had been forced to kneel before being shot, prosecutors said.
Authorities said Burden met Streater earlier in the day at a nearby convenience store and went home with him.
Burden left, then returned to the townhome later in the evening to rob and kill the victims, prosecutors said.
Sometime after the murders, homeowners who found Burden lurking around their property tried to detain him, authorities said.
When police arrived, he ran away. However, he left behind a bag containing Blizzard’s laptop and the gun used in the Sept. 5 shooting, prosecutors said.
DNA found on a cigarette butt at the murder scene was linked to Burden, authorities said.
On April 26, 2012, Burden was arrested after he was identified in a photo lineup, prosecutors said.
Burden will serve two consecutive life sentences with no possibility of parole, court officials said.
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