Two Gang Members Convicted In Murder, Home Invasion

ATLANTA -- Two gang members have been convicted in a January 2016 murder and double shooting. Last week, a Fulton County superior court jury found Kahlieff Adams, 21, and Thomas Cothran, 31, guilty in the murder of Anthony Chalmers, 27, in his Lanier Street apartment.

On January 22, 2016, just before 10:30pm, Cothran and Adams went to Chalmers' apartment. Chalmers allowed Cothran and Adams to enter as they were all long time acquaintances. Chalmers was inside his apartment with two of his friends, Jonathan Gray, 29, and his brother, Baratta Gray, 27. While the group was standing in the kitchen, Cothran ordered Adams and two other unidentified individuals who accompanied the defendants to the apartment, to hold Chalmers and the Grays, and to shoot them if they moved. Chalmers subsequently moved, and the men shot Chalmers and the Grays. Chalmers died at the scene. The Gray brothers both survived.

Prior to the shooting, a witness who was right outside the small apartment heard one of the
defendants say to the victims, “Don’t do it, or I’m going to shoot you.” Before leaving the apartment, Cothran, Adams, and the other two unidentified men stole marijuana from inside the apartment, as well as thousands of dollars from Chalmers’ pockets.

Investigators who responded to the scene recovered a total of 14 shell casings, from four different guns. The surviving victims were able to identify Cothran, who was arrested April 1, 2016, at a Decatur hotel. Inside the room they found a 9mm pistol with an extended magazine, a .380 pistol, and a .22 pistol.

While in the Fulton County jail, Cothran made calls to Adams warning him to leave the area because the surviving victims knew who they were. Adams was later identified by Baratta Gray and
subsequently arrested. Meanwhile, during his incarceration, Cothran composed a handwritten letter and sent it to Baratta Gray, urging him to recant. Cothran wrote, “Do the right thing, you know what happens to snitches.”

Adams had been arrested on prior charges, while Cothran had been arrested 13 times.

Both Adams and Cothran were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole plus 55 years.