Gang Members Plead Guilty In Boxing Champ's Death

ATLANTA — Two men pleaded guilty to killing a former cruiserweight boxing champion in Atlanta, a murder that was part of a violent crime spree in late 2015. On November 25, 2015, former boxing champion O’Neil Bell, 40, and a 28-year-old man exited a MARTA bus near Harbin and Campbellton roads. Bell and the other man were walking on Harbin when a red PT Cruiser with dark tinted windows pulled up beside them. Inside the vehicle were Tycorion Davis and Quintavius Robinson.

Davis and Robinson got out of the vehicle and robbed the man who was walking behind Bell at gunpoint before turning their attention to the former boxing champ. Bell gave the men his black bag but then got into a fight with them. Davis and Robinson shot Bell in the chest, and he died at the scene. As Robinson and Davis were fleeing, they managed to fire an additional shot which struck the 28-year-old man, but he survived the shooting.

Bell's murder was part of a crime spree which began November 24, 2015, when Cortez Williams, 20, stole the PT Cruiser in East Point. Later that morning, Robinson and Williams robbed a woman at gunpoint who was exiting a MARTA bus. Then, that night, Robinson, Davis, and Williams committed another armed robbery and carjacking of a mother and daughter in Clayton County.

Just after midnight on November 25, 2015, Robinson and Davis dropped off Williams at his home before they robbed and fatally shot Bell. The following day the PT Cruiser was found abandoned and the fingerprints of all three defendants were found inside. Williams later pleaded guilty to armed robbery for his role in the crime spree and was sentenced to 15 years to serve eight years in prison.

Davis and Robinson both admitted their actions were the result of an attempt to elevate their status within the Atlanta criminal street gang of which they were members. Robinson was sentenced to 35 years in prison, and Davis was sentenced to 40 years to serve 35 in prison.

Bell was a Jamaican professional boxer who competed from 1998 to 2011 and held the undisputed cruiserweight title and the lineal cruiserweight title in 2006. Bell amassed a total fighting record of 27 wins, 4 losses, and 1 draw.