DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announced a jury trial conviction in the case against a Forest Park man accused of murdering an employee at a fast food restaurant in 2010.
On Tuesday, a jury found Rashad Rogers, 33, guilty on charges of Malice Murder and Felony Murder stemming from the death of Gary Andrews, 23.
According to the investigation, officers with the DeKalb County Police Department (DKPD) responded to a call of a robbery in progress at Church’s Chicken on Flakes Mill Road at 8:59 p.m. on December 18, 2010. Officers found Andrews on the floor inside the store unconscious and bleeding from the head.
Witnesses shared that two black males wearing surgical masks entered the restaurant with guns and demanded entry to the safe. One suspect was described as having neck-length dreads with red tips.
When the suspects discovered that the cashier did not have a key, they hopped over the counter and demanded to know where the safe was located. Andrews, who worked at the restaurant, was trying to hide his coworkers in the freezer at the back of the store. The suspect with dreads put a gun to another employee’s head and Andrews tried to intervene. The gunman shot Andrews twice, striking him in the head. The suspects took cash from the register and fled.
The case went cold despite numerous suspects being eliminated. It was picked up by DKPD’s Cold Case Unit in 2012. Simultaneously, the FBI was investigating an April 2011 bank robbery in DeKalb County involving Defendant Rogers as well as Clifford Jackson and Clifford Durham.
An informant told the FBI that Rogers, Jackson, and Durham showed up at his residence on the evening of Church’s Chicken murder with a lot of money and were talking about the shooting. He shared that Rogers felt ill that evening and asked for medicine and overheard Rogers say, "He shouldn’t have moved; I had to do it." The informant also recalled seeing a wig with red tips.
In November 2012, Rogers, Jackson, and Durham pled guilty in federal court to their indictment for bank robbery. Murder warrants were taken out for Defendant Rogers and Defendant Jackson in DeKalb County on October 15, 2013. The two were transferred to DeKalb County Jail after serving their federal sentences. Jackson pled guilty to Voluntary Manslaughter on June 10, 2024, and was sentenced to serve 20 years. Clifford Durham is deceased.
Following this verdict, DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Shondeana Morris sentenced Defendant Rogers to life imprisonment.
The case assigned to Homicide & Gangs Unit was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Kara Roberts with assistance from Senior Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Friedman; District Attorney Investigator J.B. Williams; Victim Advocates Kaysha Albritton and Tonesha Bivens; retired DKPD Sgt. Stiles led initial investigation; Major Swain along with retired Detectives Van Leuven and Davis all picked up investigation later.