On a Saturday night in September 2016, 33-year-old Aromsuk Somohot, known to friends as 'Joey,' was leaving the Mai Thai restaurant he owned in Tucker, Georgia, when his life was tragically cut short. He was the victim of a robbery and fatal shooting in the parking lot of the establishment located off of Hugh Howell Road. The incident stemmed from a dispute with an employee over a request for a pay advance.
The investigation quickly led DeKalb County police to two suspects: 20-year-old
Imani Burns, a waitress at Mai Thai, and her 23-year-old boyfriend, Jarvis Stanford. According to investigators, Burns had asked Somohot for an advance on her paycheck to make a car loan payment. When he declined her request, she and Stanford planned to rob him. On the night of the murder, the couple waited in the restaurant's parking lot. As Somohot left the restaurant, Stanford, armed with a gun, approached him and demanded money. When Somohot refused, he was shot twice, and the assailants fled with $800.
Within days of the shooting, both suspects were apprehended. Imani Burns was arrested on the morning of September 14, 2016, and Jarvis Stanford was taken into custody later that same afternoon in College Park by the DeKalb Sheriff's Fugitive Unit. Both were subsequently charged with murder and armed robbery. Law enforcement officials stated that both Burns and Stanford confessed to their involvement in the crime. Detectives identified Stanford as the shooter and Burns as the getaway driver.
