Both men found guilty a second time this week
Christopher Deangelo Wakefield, 29, of Riverdale, and Travion Marquez Willis, 24, of College Park have been convicted in Fayette Superior Court and sentenced for the 2008 kidnapping and armed robbery of an amusement games employee, according to a news release from the Fayetteville Police Department.
After a Fayette County jury found the two guilty on all counts, Judge Harold Benefield sentenced Wakefield to life plus 25 years for armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated assault, theft by taking (motor vehicle) and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Willis received a sentence of life plus five years for the same offenses, said Fayetteville Police Lieutenant Mike Whitlow.
The case was originally tried in Fayette County Superior Court in 2008 and was ordered for retrial after both defendants appealed the original conviction.
On June 16, 2008, as an employee of All-Star Amusement Games Inc. was leaving the Village Market convenience store located at 765 North Glynn St. in Fayetteville, he was approached by Wakefield and Willis in the parking lot, Whitlow said.
Wakefield and Willis held the employee at gunpoint and took his keys and cell phone. They then forced the employee into the trunk of their rented Chevrolet Impala. Willis then drove the Impala away from the store with Wakefield following in the victim’s Chevrolet Tahoe, Whitlow said.
They proceeded north on North Glynn Street and crashed into each other, allowing the victim to escape from the trunk of the Impala after he pulled the emergency trunk latch. Wakefield and Willis then fled north on Ga. Highway 85 and eventually turned onto Pine Trail Road where Willis wrecked the Impala and fled on foot. Wakefield abandoned the Tahoe on Pine Trail Road and also fled on foot.
Fayetteville Police, Fayette County Sheriff’s deputies and Fayette County marshals responded to the area and were able to apprehend Willis a short time later with the assistance of several Fayetteville citizens who had seen Willis running in the area, Whitlow said.
Fayetteville Police identified Wakefield as the second suspect the same day and he was apprehended by the United States Marshals Fugitive Task Force a week later in Riverdale.
Both cases were tried successfully by the Fayette County District Attorney’s Office. The case and subsequent convictions were made possible through the cooperative efforts of the Fayetteville Police Department, the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, the Fayette County Marshals Office, the Fayette County District Attorney’s Office and the United States Marshals Office, Whitlow said.
