In a case that unfolded over several months, the disappearance of 25-year-old Joshua Lee Jackson, a Black male from Athens, Georgia, ended in a grim discovery and a complex gang-related murder investigation. Jackson, along with his friend Derrick Davion Ruff, also 25, was reported missing in mid-December 2018. The two were last seen in a Ford Expedition, which was later found abandoned in a neighborhood in unincorporated Lawrenceville. For three months, their families anxiously awaited any news, a period of uncertainty that came to a tragic close on March 17, 2019.
On that Sunday, the bodies of Jackson and Ruff were found inside a unit at the Extra Space Storage on Lawrenceville Highway. Both men had been shot to death, and investigators believed they were killed inside the storage unit on or around the time they went missing. The Gwinnett County Police Department, in coordination with the FBI Safe Streets Task Force and the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, quickly determined that the murders were likely connected to the Gangster Disciples street gang.
The subsequent investigation led to the identification of five suspects. A Gwinnett County grand jury handed down a 21-count indictment against them. Four of the men—Lesley Chappelle Green, 30, of Stone Mountain; Shabazz Larry Guidry, 24, of Decatur; Robert Maurice Carlisle, 30, of Lithonia; and Philmon Deshawn Chambers, 30, of Dunwoody—were charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and concealing the death of another. A fifth suspect, 29-year-old Justin Jamal Davis of Snellville, was charged with concealing the death of another and conspiracy. All five men also faced charges of violating the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism Prevention Act. The indictment suggested that the victims were tortured before they were killed.
Authorities revealed that the motive for the murders was rooted in gang retaliation. Philmon Chambers allegedly ordered the killings because he incorrectly believed Ruff and Jackson were "snitches" who had cooperated with law enforcement regarding another gang-related murder. The victims, who were also suspected members of the Gangster Disciples, were lured to the Lawrenceville storage unit under the pretense of retrieving stolen items. Instead, they were met with violence. Intercepted phone calls captured some of the suspects discussing the murders and the disposal of the bodies, referring to them as "spoiled milk."
By the end of May 2019, four of the five suspects were in custody. In February 2024, one of the men, Lesley Chappell Green, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his role in the brutal slayings of Joshua Jackson and Derrick Ruff. The convictions brought a measure of closure to a case that highlighted the devastating impact of gang violence.
