GUNMAN CONVICTED IN DEADLY EAST ATLANTA BURGLARY CASE
February 6, 2019
Victim Shot and Killed After Catching Defendant Red-Handed During Lunch Break
Decatur, Ga.- DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announces a conviction by jury trial in the murder case against an accused burglar. After deliberating for less than an hour, jurors returned guilty verdicts Tuesday afternoon against 38-year-old Jeffries Scott Anderson on charges of Murder, Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, Burglary in the 1st Degree, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony in connection with the shooting death of 30-year-old Jonathan Alexander Newton.
The incident happened on October 31, 2016 inside of the victim’s apartment unit located in the 1200 block of Metropolitan Avenue in the DeKalb County jurisdiction of Atlanta. Newton and a co-worker, who lived in the same complex, had just returned home for a brief lunch break when the victim noticed his apartment door had been kicked in. He rushed ahead to his unit and encountered Defendant Anderson burglarizing his home. The victim tried to subdue the Defendant, who in turn, reached for his weapon. The victim told his friend, now standing at the doorway, to run away. As he did, he heard multiple gunshots. One of those bullets pierced the victim’s heart, fatally wounding him. Defendant Anderson fled the scene.
Surveillance video captured a man fitting the Defendant’s description wearing a black knit cap casing the apartment complex prior to the crime and later leaving the scene without the cap. When questioned by detectives, Defendant Anderson claimed he was out of town at the time of the shooting and could not have committed the murder. Contrary to those claims, crime scene technicians recovered a black knit cap at the scene of the crime next to the victim’s body. It tested positive for Defendant Anderson’s DNA.
Following his conviction, Defendant Anderson was sentenced to Life without the possibility of Parole plus 30 years in prison by DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Clarence Seeliger.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Shannon Hodder, assigned to the Major Felony Unit, with assistance from ADA Tauri Thomas and DA Investigator C.D. Smith. Detective Kyle Kleinhenz of the Atlanta Police Department led the initial investigation.