In a quiet Lawrenceville, Georgia neighborhood, the evening of April 16, 2020, was shattered by a tragic discovery. Julian Talbo, a 20-year-old male, was found shot to death alongside his friend, 23-year-old An Ha, in a home on Racquet Club Circle. A friend of at least one of the victims made the grim discovery after returning to the residence and immediately called 911.
When Gwinnett County police officers arrived shortly after 8 p.m., they found both Talbo and Ha deceased in the lower level of the split-foyer home, having sustained fatal gunshot wounds.
The investigation into the double homicide quickly pointed to a drug-related motive. Homicide investigators identified 19-year-old Steven Tran of Kennesaw as the primary suspect. Evidence presented during the subsequent trial revealed that Tran had arranged to purchase two pounds of marijuana from Talbo and Ha at the Lawrenceville residence. However, the transaction took a violent turn when Tran robbed the two men before opening fire. In total, Tran fired 12 shots, fatally wounding both Talbo and Ha inside the home.
The day after the discovery of the bodies, on April 17, 2020, Steven Tran was arrested and taken into custody at the Gwinnett County Jail. He was subsequently charged with two counts of felony murder and three counts of aggravated assault. Physical evidence recovered from Tran's home in Kennesaw linked him to the murders, and he later confessed to the shootings. In February 2024, a Gwinnett County jury found Tran, then 23, guilty of two counts of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, three counts of aggravated assault, and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. For his crimes, Steven Tran was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole, with an additional five years to be served.
