CUMMING, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News obtained surveillance photos showing a robbing crew in action a week before deputies said they struck a Forsyth County grocery store and killed the security guard.
Forsyth County Sheriff Ted Paxton told Channel Two's Richard Elliot that they have four members of the crew in jail, charged with robbing the Ingles store on Canton Road and killing security guard David Casto.
The photos show the crew robbing a Waffle House restaurant and a Chevron station in Cumming.
Paxton said Sherod Johnson was an Ingles employee and the inside man on the job. He believes Nikitta Holmes was the triggerman who killed Casto with the guard's own pistol inside a store freezer. Paxton told Elliot he believes Holmes, suspect Tyrice Adside and a juvenile, tied up Johnson and stuffed him in the freezer to hide his involvement in the crime. Paxton said he's not sure Johnson knew about the killing until he actually saw the body.
Sheriff: Men Who Killed Security Guard Had Robbery Crew
"It's a heavy burden on our hearts that we weren't able to catch them before it got to that," said Paxton outside the jail where three of the four suspects are being held. "I think every day since it happened of David Casto."
Paxton said he was worried about the robbing crew a week ago and was working to catch them.
"As we looked at these (photos) we started to be very concerned about the escalation of violence. How they were taking over actually taking over these locations."
Channel Two Action News also learned more about the criminal histories of these three men. Holmes was arrested in Gwinnett County last year on felony burglary charges. He just bonded out last month. Adside was also arrested in Gwinnett County last month on charges he was carrying a concealed and unlicensed weapon. He bonded out as well. Johnson was arrested in Forsyth County last year on theft and battery charges.
The juvenile suspect is in a youth detention center.
The three adults are expected to appear in court Wednesday morning.