DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A DeKalb County jury has convicted a man accused of killing a stranger who tried to help him at a DeKalb County park.
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On Friday, the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office announced that Ryan Anson Carter, 41, was found guilty of malice murder, felony murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in the death of 29-year-old Jamaal Cobb.
According to investigators, DeKalb County police were called to Lithonia Park around 9:30 a.m. on August 23, 2020, after a woman walking her dog found Cobb lying in a pool of blood on a basketball court. Investigators said Cobb had been shot in the leg and forearm and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police followed a trail of blood from the basketball court to a soccer field in the back of the park, where officers recovered shell casings and projectiles.
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Investigators later determined Carter and Cobb were strangers who first met hours before the shooting at a Texaco gas station near Gresham Road and Interstate 20. Authorities said Carter’s girlfriend had left him there after an argument and Cobb offered him a ride.
According to phone records, Carter used Cobb’s phone to contact his girlfriend before the two men eventually went to Lithonia Park near the girlfriend’s complex.
Prosecutors said shortly after 7 a.m., Carter shot Cobb, stole his maroon 2004 GMC Yukon, and drove to Liburn, where he discarded Cobb’s phone.
Later that afternoon, EMS crews responded to reports of a person in distress on Interstate 85 southbound near Amour Drive. Authorities found Carter with Cobb’s SUV and transported him to Grady Memorial Hospital. The vehicle was later towed.
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After Cobb was identified as the victim, investigators searched the Yukon at a tow yard and found a gun hidden inside a duffel bag in the trunk. Ballistics testing later confirmed the gun matched shell casings recovered at the park.
Police arrested Carter, who denied involvement in the killing and claimed he had never been at the park, though he admitted being at the Texaco station.
Following the guilty verdict, a judge sentenced Carter to two consecutive life sentences plus five additional years in prison.
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