Ricardo Reese was trying to break up a fight between a teen and his girlfriend when he was shot twice in the chest and killed last April in Cobb County.
On Friday, Reese’s shooter was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm and criminal trespass, the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office said.
Darius Dionne Oliver, now 19, kicked in the door of his girlfriend’s home at the Mableton Reserve Apartments, near Austell, and was chasing her and yelling when Reese tried to intervene, according to an arrest warrant obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
That prompted a physical fight between Oliver and Reese, according to police.
“A physical altercation began between said accused and the victim in which said accused drew a .380 caliber pistol from his pocket and fired it twice at Ricardo Reese,” the warrant states. “Reese was struck both times in the chest and then fell down the flight of stairs.”
Reese, 41, was not armed at the time he was killed, the DA’s office said. He was dead when investigators arrived.
Oliver was then seen running away from the apartment, and a Cobb County police dog helped track Oliver to a construction area just west of the apartment complex, police previously told The AJC. The police dog then bit Oliver, who was taken into custody and initially charged with murder in Reese's death, records show. Oliver has remained in jail without bond since his arrest.
The murder charge was later reduced to voluntary manslaughter. During his trial, Oliver testified that he was acting in self-defense, but prosecutors disagreed.
“You can’t use self-defense when you’re the aggressor,” Don Geary, chief assistant DA, told jurors.
Oliver is scheduled for sentencing May 2 at 10 a.m. and could receive up to 26 years in prison, the DA’s office said.
Reese was the father of two boys and was survived by his mother and nine siblings at the time of his death, according to his obituary that appeared in the AJC.
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