Two of the men who allegedly broke into a large Fayette County home and killed the 74-year-old man who lived there appeared in court Monday, while a third suspect remained at large, police said.
Jeffrey Lee Wallace, 22, of Atlanta, and Kavion Wyzeenski Tookes, 21, of Decatur, were charged with malice murder in the death of Albert Eugene DeMagnus, the Fayette County Sheriff's Office said. According to the Georgia Secretary of State's Office and his own LinkenIn profile, DeMagnus was the CEO of Computer Management Services, Inc.
Fayette County Sheriff Barry Babb said the third suspect, who was not identified, is most likely not still a danger to the community, since he fled the area on Friday. Babb said he is “very confident that this case is progressing” and they will locate the man.
“Our investigators are diligently working to solve this homicide,” a spokesman for the sheriff’s office said Monday.
Wallace, Tookes and one other man allegedly broke into DeMagnus' home on Lake Horton Landing Drive early Friday morning, demanded cash and jewelery, and stabbed the man, Babb said. DeMagnus was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He lived in an upscale, lakeside community.
DeMagnus’ wife called 911 at 2:30 a.m. after the men left the home — two suspects fled in the victim’s gray Lexus, and one in the car they drove to the scene in, police said. Officers soon spotted the Lexus in the area and a high-speed chase ensued, with the vehicles going as fast as 130 miles per hour, Babb said.
The Lexus crashed, and the two men ran away.
Later in the night, police apprehended the first suspect in a rather “unique” way, Babb said. After setting up a perimeter with road checkpoints, a Lyft driver approached after 4 a.m. and told police she was picking up a passenger nearby.
“This may be one of our suspects trying to leave the scene,” Babb thought of the person being picked up.
So he launched a plan — a “trojan horse,” as he called it.
Babb and three officers got into his car, which happened to be identical to the Lyft driver’s. They got the location of the suspect from the Lyft driver and simply drove to him, posing as his ride.
“The subject walked all the way up, was about to open the door and get in our vehicle, when we exited and identified ourself as the sheriff’s office,” Babb said.
The suspect fled and got about 100 yards into the woods before being taken into custody, according to police.
“That was something that was unique for us,” Babb said, “a first time for us.”
Police located the second suspect at around daybreak Friday, Babb said.
Authorities are looking into why the assailants targeted DeMagnus’ house.
