2 men convicted on 73 charges after 11-, 14-year-old murdered in their beds in Clayton County

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Two men who were part of a plan to kill a 15-year-old gang member, but instead killed an innocent 11-year-old girl and 14-year-old boy will spend the rest of their lives in prison.

Christopher Spencer and Devin Dunson were convicted for their roles in the deaths of Tatiyana Coates and her brother, Daveon Coates, who were killed while sleeping in their beds in 2016.

Prosecutors with the Clayton County District Attorney’s Office say eight members of the Rolling 20s street gang went to a home on Libby Lane to kill DeAndre Mitchell, a fellow gang member they believed had stolen guns.

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Mitchell no longer lived at the home, and they instead found the Coates siblings.

“We believe it was case that they were there searching for DeAndre and thought he was in one of the beds,” Clayton County Police Chief Kevin Roberts told Channel 2 Action News in 2018 when 11 suspects were arrested in connection to the crime.

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Authorities have stressed the Coates siblings’ innocence for years.

“They were visiting with another family,” Roberts said. “There’s no way they could know the harm coming their way.”

Both Spencer and Dunson were sentenced to two consecutive life sentences and an additional 220 years and a fine of $200,000.20.

Clayton County District Attorney Tasha Mosley says there is one more defendant awaiting trial in this case.

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Mother, brother of kids killed in gang-retaliation attack come face-to-face with suspect Police said 11-year-old Tatiyana Coates and her brother, 15-year-old Daveon Coates, were shot to death Oct. 22, 2016, in a gang-retaliation killing that missed its target.

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