A night of celebration turned into a scene of deadly violence for Gary Matthews, a 31-year-old man, in the early morning hours of a November Saturday in Clarkston, Georgia. Matthews had been out with friends at an adult entertainment club on Brockett Road, ringing in his birthday. The festivities continued into the parking lot where he and three companions, another man and two women, were sitting in a white BMW.
The relative quiet of the late hour was shattered at approximately 3:55 a.m. when a Jeep pulled up near their vehicle. Two men exited the Jeep and, without any apparent warning, unleashed a barrage of gunfire on the BMW. The car was riddled with bullets, its windows shattered by the sudden and brutal assault. When the shooting stopped, the assailants got back in their Jeep and sped away from the scene. The vehicle was later discovered abandoned by authorities.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, first responders arrived to a chaotic and tragic scene. They found Gary Matthews inside the bullet-pocked car, having sustained fatal injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene, his life cut short on the very day he was celebrating its continuation. The other male passenger in the car was found with life-threatening injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency medical treatment. The two female passengers were physically unharmed but were left to grapple with the horror of the sudden violence that had claimed their friend's life.
For months, the case remained under active investigation as Clarkston police detectives worked to identify the individuals responsible for the senseless attack. They appealed to the public for any information that might lead to a breakthrough. The investigation culminated in a significant development on February 27, 2026, when the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office Fugitive Unit, with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service, located and arrested a suspect. Twenty-two-year-old Robert Grady was taken into custody at a residence in Decatur. He has since been charged with malice murder in connection with the death of Gary Matthews and is being held in the DeKalb County Jail without bond. While authorities have stated that a second individual was involved in the shooting, there has been no public announcement regarding a second arrest.
