Man guilty of hiring hit man who killed wrong person

DECATUR, Ga. — A man accused of hiring a hit man who killed the wrong person has been found guilty.

Prosecutors urged a jury to convict Antiwan Lane on Monday, but his attorney said he had nothing to do with the killing.

The jury found Lane guilty just before 5 p.m. Monday.

Channel 2's Tom Jones went to a Decatur court for closing arguments, but cameras were barred from the courtroom during testimony because many of the witnesses fear for their lives, including the man whom prosecutors believe was the intended target.

Ivan Perez was killed in Dunwoody in December 2011. A cellphone found at the scene was tracked to Kevin Stallworth, and prosecutors said there were hundreds of calls and texts from Lane.

"He hired a junkie. He hired a dumb guy who was stupid enough to shoot the wrong guy and stupid enough to drop the gun at the scene," prosecutor Bob Statham said.

Prosecutors said Stallworth eventually admitted Lane hired him to shoot a man, but he thought Perez was the guy until he saw him on the news. Stallworth has already pleaded guilty.

Prosecutors said Lane believed the intended target and his wife were trying to break up Lane and his girlfriend.

Lane was sentenced to life without parole, plus ten years.

WSBTV