Robbery Plot Turned Deadly In Gwinnett: Prosecutors

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — Three men from Tennessee were sentenced to prison after being convicted of shooting a man at his Lawrenceville home in an exchange of gunfire, the Gwinnett County District Attorney's Office said Thursday.

A Gwinnett County jury found Emarion Boyland, 20, Jamar Quarles, 23, and Theus Hopson, 19, guilty of two counts of felony murder and other charges in connection with the July 2021 shooting death of Kapri Kadeem Ward, 29, prosecutors said.

Ward was suspected of being a marijuana dealer at the time, and the defendants were convicted of planning to rob him, prosecutors said.

Brothers Boyland and Hopson, who was age 15 at the time, came from Memphis with Quarles to rob Ward on July 1, 2021, prosecutors said.

The three men, along with 23-year-old driver Aaron Rakir Todd, waited for Ward to arrive at his apartment, prosecutors said. When Ward came home, prosecutors said Boyland, Quarles and Hopson followed him upstairs while Todd waited in the car.

Gunfire was exchanged between Ward and the three men, and Ward was ultimately fatally shot in the chest, prosecutors said.

While the others fled the scene, prosecutors said Quarles suffered a gunshot wound and was taken to a hospital by officers who did not realize that he was a suspect in the shooting, prosecutors said.

However, Quarles left the hospital and returned to Tennessee before he could be questioned by investigators, prosecutors said.

During trial, Boyland, Quarles and Hopson were found guilty of two counts of felony murder, criminal attempt to commit armed robbery and aggravated assault, prosecutors said.

Quarles and Hopson were additionally found guilty of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, prosecutors said.

They were each sentenced to life in prison plus five years on probation, and Boyland was sentenced to life in prison, prosecutors said.

Todd is facing charges of murder, aggravated assault and armed robbery, prosecutors said.

“This victim’s death was senseless, and we grieve with his family,” Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said in a news release. “These defendants crossed three state lines to satisfy their greed and took a life in the process. We hope that the guilty verdicts and sentences serve as justice and closure for the family and loved ones of the deceased victim."

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