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Man shot cab driver who wouldn’t take drugs as payment

Crime and public safety Metro ATL slideshow

Man shot cab driver who wouldn’t take drugs as payment

DeKalb County Georgia. Source: Google Maps.
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DeKalb County Georgia. Source: Google Maps.

A man has pleaded guilty to shooting a cab driver who would not accept drugs as payment.

According to the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office, David Garcia-Mendoza, 22, pleaded guilty to felony murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault, theft of services and weapons offenses. He was sentenced to life in prison plus five years for the murder of Chamblee taxi driver 43-year-old Luz Mariana Matheu.

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“Matheu was gunned down on Oct. 1, 2016 shortly after picking the defendant up from a Buford Highway hotel,” the District Attorney’s Office said. “Witnesses reported seeing the two arguing in the front seat of the victim’s car while parked at a nearby gas station. The Defendant then held a gun to the victim’s head before forcing her to drive away. He pulled the trigger a short distance later, causing the victim to lose control of the vehicle and crash into a fence at the intersection of Warwick Circle and Woodacres Road in Chamblee. The victim suffered a fatal gunshot wound the head.”

Garcia-Mendoza fled into a nearby residential area and forced two men on the ground at gunpoint before he escaped into a wooded area.

“Garcia-Mendoza was arrested after being tracked by a canine unit while hiding in a kudzu patch,” the District Attorney’s Office said. “During a police interrogation, the defendant admitted being under the influence of drugs and alcohol and shooting the victim because she would not accept drugs as payment for his taxi ride.”


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