ATLANTA — Two men accused of killing a man near the Atlanta BeltLine are closer to learning their fates.
The defendants, Brandon Williams and Demetrice Ross, are accused of shooting and killing 60-year-old Tom Arnold in 2022.
Testimony wrapped up on Tuesday, and closing arguments are scheduled to begin Wednesday morning.
Before releasing jurors for the night, they heard testimony from two detectives who explained how they used cellphone records and surveillance video to build their case against the defendants.
Investigators say Arnold was walking home after a night out with friends in Inman Park when Williams and Ross tried to rob him and then shot Arnold in the head.
During Atlanta Police Sgt. Michele Parent’s testimony, defense attorneys tried to point to what they described as holes in the homicide investigation.
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“Ultimately, in regard to this case, you didn’t find any gun. No gun, no surveillance video of the actual shooting, no footage of the shooting. There was no DNA that came back to Mr. Ross,” defense attorneys said.
But the state explained to jurors that there is surveillance video that shows the defendants and a third man, who isn’t charged in the murder, breaking into a car around the time of the murder.
Prosecutors also called on APD detective Ronald Sluss, who testified to the location of the defendants’ phones and which cell towers they were pinging at the time of the murder.
“I have video that looks like them there, and are the cellphones matching up. And I can say, yes, the cellphones match up with the evidence,” Sluss said.
Although the state called multiple witnesses over four days, the defense called only one witness, a DeKalb County homicide detective.
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