September 30, 2022

Defendant Believed Victim Was Having an Affair with His Girlfriend

Decatur, Ga.- DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announces a conviction by jury trial in connection with the murder of an off-duty ride-share driver who had offered a ride to a stranger in need of medical care. Jurors returned guilty verdicts on Thursday, September 29, 2022, against De’monte Anderson, 27, on charges of Murder, Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony in connection with the shooting death of 58-year-old Dwayne Roberts.

Roberts was gunned down on October 27, 2019, while sitting in the driver’s seat of his vehicle in the parking lot of a Flat Shoals Road apartment complex in Decatur. Shortly before the fatal shooting, the victim met the defendant’s girlfriend at a convenience store. The woman had been involved in a physical altercation and needed medical care. The victim offered to drive her to a hospital after first dropping her vehicle off at her apartment complex. The driver waited outside while the woman gathered belongings from her unit. She was then confronted by Defendant Anderson who accused her of having an affair with the victim, which she denied.

After putting belongings in her nearby car, the Defendant’s girlfriend heard two gun shots and then saw the injured victim leaning out of his vehicle. Defendant Anderson then struck his girlfriend in the face and threatened her by saying, “Don’t make me kill you, too.” Defendant Anderson then fled the scene in his SUV. Police arrived on the scene a short time later and discovered the victim was not conscious or breathing. He was rushed to the hospital but did not survive his injuries.

Defendant Anderson was arrested in Decatur about a month after the crime, without incident. While awaiting trial, investigators determined the Defendant made several calls to his girlfriend asking her not to testify in court. Authorities later located a letter written by the Defendant in another inmate’s jail cell in which Defendant Anderson appears to orchestrate a plan to have his own girlfriend killed prior to trial.

Following his conviction, Defendant Anderson was sentenced to life plus five years in prison by Senior Judge David Irwin, sitting for DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Tangela Barrie.

The case, assigned to the Homicide and Gangs Unit, was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Tauri Thomas, with assistance from ADA Michael Costello and DA Investigator C. B. Hollowood. Detective V. Redrick of the DeKalb County Police Department led the initial investigation.