In the quiet Duluth, Georgia, on a Saturday night in November, a man named Mario Acosta-Chavez, age 39, was found lifeless on the pavement of a cul-de-sac. It was around 8:40 p.m. on November 19, 2022, when Gwinnett County police were called to the 3400 block of Forest Knoll Court for what was initially reported as an unknown medical issue. Upon their arrival, they discovered Acosta-Chavez, a male, lying motionless near the street. Paramedics who arrived at the scene could do nothing for him; he had already succumbed to a fatal gunshot wound.
The investigation into the death of Mario Acosta-Chavez quickly led to a suspect. Within a couple of days, on November 21, the Gwinnett County police announced the arrest of a woman in connection with the homicide. The suspect was identified as 35-year-old Erika Garcia of Bethlehem. Garcia was taken into custody and booked into the county jail on Sunday, November 20.
Erika Garcia faced serious charges for her alleged involvement in Acosta-Chavez's death. She was charged with felony murder and aggravated assault. At the time of her arrest, investigators had not released a motive for the shooting or disclosed the nature of the relationship between Garcia and Acosta-Chavez, if any. Garcia was being held in the Gwinnett County jail without bond as the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deadly shooting continued.
