Man poses for picture with cash, then is killed

In the minutes before his death, 26-year-old Justuss Rogers posed for a photo with a load of cash, a photo that DeKalb County police believe led to his death.

A woman he’d spent the day with running errands for his small-time cellphone business shared the shot with a “group chat” of men, who decided to rob him, Detective V.R. Van Hees testified Thursday. The detective said the woman, Lakoaia Johnson, 20, then convinced Rogers to take her to an address off South Hairston Road.

When they got there, a man with a gun pulled Johnson out of the car and shot Rogers dead, according to the testimony.

Van Hees testified Thursday in a probable cause hearing for Johnson's co-defendant, Gregory Montgomery, 18, who is accused of participating in planning the robbery.

Montgomery was identified as one of at least five people in the group chat, the detective said.

Another person suspected of involvement is Shamar Davis, 17, who told police, “All I know is there was a setup going on in the group chat.” He also implicated Montgomery, a long-time friend, Van Hees said.

It isn’t clear who police believe the man who pulled the trigger was. They arrested a man they believed had been the shooter, but his charges were thrown out in an earlier hearing.

Cox Media Group