Newspaper Page Text
QUICK FINDER
Business
17A
Education
18-19A
Sports
21-23A
Opinion
5A
Classified
20A
NORTH DEKALB SENIOR
CENTER CONSTRUCTION
HALTED
LOCAL, 8A
BEWARE OF MEETING
ONLINE CROOKS
OFFLINE
LOCAL, 11A
NEW BIG GREEN EGG
HEADQUARTERS
HATCHES
BUSINESS, 17A
The Official Legal Organ ofDeKalb County, GA. Serving East Atlanta, Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Clarkston, Decatur, Doraville, Dunwoody, Lithonia, Pine Lake, Tucker and Stone Mountain.
\jjti lib Social/
BS®
thechampionnewspaper.com
SECTION A: VOL. 24 NO. 35
TheChampion
ist Place
General excellence
Award Winner
Georgia Press Association
‘Better Newspaper Contest’
2007, 2009-2014
FEB. 26 - MARCH 4, 2015
500
Craigslist
murderers get
life without
parole
by Andrew Cauthen
andrew@dekalb champ, com
T he so-called “Craigslist killers”—two men
who used the classified advertisements web
site to lure and kill a potential customer-
were sentenced to life without the possibility
of parole Feb. 18.
A jury had recently found Contevious Stepp-
McCommons and Malik Rice guilty of setting up a
bogus Craigslist ad and killing 56-year-old Clarence
Gardenhire.
Stepp-McCommons and Rice used a fake ad for
an iPhone for sale to lure Gardenhire and his son,
Jamar Perry, in 2013, to an abandoned house in
Southeast Atlanta. Gardenhire was shot and later
died at a local hospital after the attempted robbery.
“Whenever we get a result like this, were always
pleased,” said DeKalb County District Attorney Rob
ert James. “A father, a grandfather has been taken
away from us before his time in a violent manner. No
one is throwing a party here, but in terms of our level
of satisfaction, because of justice, we are satisfied.”
Superior Court Judge Cynthia Becker sentenced
Stepp-McCommons, 20, to life without the possibil
ity of parole with an additional 35 years to serve.
Rice, 19, was sentenced to life without the possibility
of parole with an additional 55 years to serve. The
two were convicted of felony murder, possession of
a firearm during commission of a felony, criminal
attempt to commit a felony and two counts of aggra
vated assault.
“This was a senseless act,” James said. Garden-
hire, a resident of Tallahassee, Fla., was in town for
the birth of his ninth grandchild.
“He was going to buy an iPhone,” James said.
“They were just going to purchase a phone and he
was killed in the process over a piece of property,
and that makes no sense.”
Bill Hankins, senior assistant public defender
for DeKalb County representing Contevious Stepp-
McCommons, called the defendants “y° un g men
[who] made a bad decision over the course of a few
minutes. It’s a tragedy.”
Hankins told reporters that the case was hard to
defend.
“Any time there are shots fired, it’s very difficult
See Life on page15A
“The sentence will not bring my husband back,” said Joan Gardenhire, after a judge sentenced two men to life in
prison for the shooting death of her husband Clarence during a Craigslist transaction. “My heart hurts. When I think of
Clarence, I cry.” Photos by Andrew Cauthen
DeKalb DA Robert James called the shooting “senseless.”
Senior assistant public defender Bill Hankins said the
defendants “made a bad decision.”
Family members of the shooting victim said their biggest supporter is now gone. See related story on page 11 A.
K3CHAMPI0NNEWSPAPER CHAMPIONNEWS
VCHAMPIONNEWSPAPER ©CHAMPNEWSPAPER
64 116
1
