In October of 2021, the life of 39-year-old Garcia Danielle Gaddis, a Black man, was tragically cut short in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Gaddis, a truck driver from Sandy Springs who had moved to the Atlanta area about six years prior in search of better opportunities, was found deceased in his red Dodge Ram 1500 on October 24, 2021. A noise complaint led police to the suspicious vehicle parked at the intersection of Pierce Brennan Drive and Tech Center Parkway, where they discovered Gaddis with a
single gunshot wound to his head. His cell phone, wallet, and car keys were all missing from the scene.
The investigation into Gaddis's death revealed a story of a meeting arranged through an online dating app called Tagged. On the evening of October 21, 2021, Gaddis had left his home and was not seen alive again by his family. Investigators discovered that Gaddis had been communicating with a user on the app, later identified as 23-year-old Mark Antonio White of Covington. Their online exchange culminated in an agreement to meet in the Little Suwanee Pointe neighborhood. Surveillance footage from that night showed Gaddis's truck arriving around 11 p.m. and picking up a man with shoulder-length dreadlocks near the neighborhood pool area. Minutes later, the same truck was seen leaving, and the man was recorded walking back towards the pool clubhouse.
A significant breakthrough in the case came when a shell casing found in Gaddis's truck was linked to a prior incident in July 2021, where White was accused of shooting at his ex-girlfriend and her mother. The mother had kept the shell casings from that incident, which matched the one found in Gaddis's vehicle, providing a crucial piece of evidence connecting White to the murder. Further evidence emerged from police bodycam footage during an unrelated eviction at a townhome across from the pool where the initial meeting took place. The footage showed a man who was dressed similarly to the person seen in the surveillance video on the night of Gaddis's death. A warrant was issued for White's arrest, and he was apprehended in June 2022.
Mark Antonio White was charged with felony murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. In November 2024, a Gwinnett County jury found him guilty on all charges. For orchestrating the deadly robbery and taking the life of Garcia Danielle Gaddis, White was sentenced to life in prison plus five years, without the possibility of parole. The verdict brought a measure of justice to Gaddis's family, who had been awaiting answers since his untimely death.
