Monday, April 1, 2024

State v. Phun Kam

Decatur, Ga.- DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announces a conviction by jury trial in the murder case against a Clarkston man accused of shooting and killing his friend. 

Jurors returned guilty verdicts Thursday against Phun Kam, 36, on charges of Malice Murder, Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Felony.   

On May 9, 2021, officers with the DeKalb County Police Department responded to a call about a person shot at an apartment complex on Northern Avenue in Clarkston. 

They discovered Hrin Thawng, 29, lying just outside Defendant Kam’s front door with a gunshot wound to the head.  Defendant Kam was the one who called 911 and officers arrested him on the scene.  Paramedics transported Thawng to Grady Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead. 

According to the investigation, Defendant Kam fired seven shots—six through the closed door of the apartment and one from just inches away from Thawng’s head.  An autopsy revealed Thawng had been shot three times. 

Defendant Kam told police that Thawng had come to his apartment and knocked on the door and because Thawng had stabbed Kam several months earlier, Defendant Kam decided to shoot him. 

Immediately following the guilty verdicts, DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Courtney L. Johnson, who presided over the trial, sentenced Defendant Kam to Life. 

The case, assigned to the District Attorney’s Trial Division, was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Ryan Patrick and Senior Assistant District Attorney Joseph Lenoff, District Attorney Investigator Edwin Perkins, and Victim Advocate Jenaiya Coleman.  DeKalb County Police Department Officer Wright led the initial investigation.