2 men charged in murder of beloved Roswell business owner

Roswell Police have charged two men in the murder of a local business owner

Investigators say 48-year-old Eddy Leonardo was dropping off cash to his check-cashing business inside the Super Mercado Jalisco on Alpharetta Street Saturday afternoon when two men ambushed him.

Juan James told Channel 2’s Mike Petchenik he was pulling out of the lot when he heard gunfire.

“I heard two gunshots,” he said. “Tang, tang.”

James told Petchenik when he learned Leonardo was the victim, it hit him hard.

“Too sad. Too sad because he was a nice person,” he told Petchenik.

James said he and Leonardo grew up in the same city in the Dominican Republic.

“In the community, a good person,” he said. “People liked him, a lot , a lot.”

Roswell Police said they tracked one of the suspects, 29-year-old James English, after surveillance video captured his license plate. They believe robbery was the motive.

“Saturday, first of the month, people were going to be cashing checks so he had a lot of cash on him,” said Officer Sean Thompson. “These guys knew that, somehow, and followed him basically.”

Thompson said detectives found English down in East Point on Monday, but were still trying to identify and arrest the second suspect. On Friday, police said they arrested Anthony Boyd in the case. He is charged with murder and criminal attempt to commit armed robbery.

James said he, too, is hoping for justice.

“You killed not only Eddy, but family and friend at the same time,” he said. “It’s a bad situation.”

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