In a tragic turn of events on the night of January 22, 2016, 27-year-old Anthony Chalmers was shot and killed in his Atlanta, Georgia apartment. The incident, which unfolded at approximately 10:20 p.m. in the 300 block of Lanier Street NW, was initially investigated as a potential home robbery. Police arrived to find a grim scene, with Chalmers deceased on his kitchen floor from multiple gunshot wounds.
Two other men, brothers Jonathan and Baratta Gray, were also found inside the home and on the front porch with critical gunshot wounds, though they ultimately survived.
The investigation revealed that the perpetrators were known to the victim. Kahlieff Adams, 21, and Thomas Cothran, 31, who were longtime acquaintances of Chalmers, were allowed into the apartment along with two other unidentified individuals. Once inside, Cothran instructed Adams and the others to hold Chalmers and the Gray brothers at gunpoint, threatening to shoot if they moved. When Chalmers made a move, he was shot multiple times. A witness outside the apartment reported hearing someone say, 'Don't do it, or I'm going to shoot you,' just before the gunfire erupted. The assailants then stole marijuana and thousands of dollars from Chalmers' pockets before fleeing the scene. Investigators at the scene recovered 14 shell casings from four different firearms.
The survivors were able to identify Thomas Cothran, leading to his arrest on April 1, 2016, at a hotel in Decatur. Inside the hotel room, authorities discovered three pistols. Following his arrest, Cothran made phone calls to Adams, warning him to leave the area. He also wrote a letter to Baratta Gray, one of the surviving victims, in an attempt to intimidate him into recanting his statement to the police, writing, 'Do the right thing, you know what happens to snitches.' Adams was subsequently taken into custody.
In April 2019, a Fulton County superior court jury found both Kahlieff Adams and Thomas Cothran guilty for their roles in the murder of Anthony Chalmers. The two gang members were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, with an additional 55 years.
