COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Defense lawyers say four men accused in a gang-related homicide, didn't kill the man, but the car that ran over him did.
A Cobb County jury began deliberations to decide the fate of four men accused in a gang-related murder case.
Johnathan Anthony, Antonio Pass, Jekari Strozier and Kemonta Bonds face murder charges for the June 2013 killing of 36-year-old Joshua Chellew.
Prosecutors contend the four men were gang members who beat up Chellew after he taunted them about their gang affiliation.
Store video captured the initial four-against-one fight, before Chellew ran into the darkness on Mableton Parkway. He was then beaten unconscious and later run over by a car, according to authorities.
Defense lawyers say the video actually confirms that some of the four men tried to break up the fight saying that some of the group had actually tried to stop the fight outside the Mableton store, and that the actual cause of death was the car that ran over Chellew.
However, prosecutors told jurors that the law does not require them to figure out what each participant did in the fight or what exactly happened when they ran into the darkness.
Prosecutors argue that under state law, those who commit a crime together can be held accountable for the circumstances, no matter who did what.
They want malice murder charges against all four men.
Assistant District Attorney Jesse Evans said that all four are parties to a crime and it does not matter who did what.
“When they all participate, they are all held equally accountable,” Evans said.