On Dec. 12, 2020, Malachi Matthew Perkins took $8 from teenagers and was supposed to provide a bag of marijuana, according to Gwinnett County investigators.
When he was later confronted, Perkins didn’t provide the drugs. Instead, he fired gunshots into a car, killing 16-year-old Davone Burnett, investigators determined.
This week, Perkins, 23, was convicted of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felon, the Gwinnett district attorney’s office said. He was sentenced to life in prison, plus five years without the possibility of parole.
“This murder cut a young life short, and it was unconscionable,” District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said in an emailed statement. “The defendant fired a gun recklessly into a car full of