Third Suspect in Armored Car Guard Killing Surrenders to Police

The third suspect charged with murder in the killing last month of an armored car guard during a robbery in Toco Hill Shopping Center surrendered to DeKalb County police this morning.

With his attorney at his side, Edwin Thornton turned himself in at police headquarters in Tucker at 11am this morning, according to a police statement. He was identified as a suspect in the killing of 32-year-old Gary Castillo yesterday, but police had not released his name and he was said to be at large. He is charged with murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

The robbery was one of a string of armored car robberies across the metro Atlanta area, the worst of which occurred in North Druid Hills. Castillo, a guard with Garda Cash Logistics, was shot while leaving the grocery store with a cash pick-up shortly after noon on March 15. The shooter escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash, and Castillo, a Lawrenceville resident, died later of his injuries at Grady Hospital.

Thornton, 28, joins Ashley Henderson, 27, of Atlanta and Stacey Dooley, 34, of Snellville who were all . The same three and 34-year-old Quinton Booker of East Point also face armed robbery, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon charges for another armored car robbery in Redan on Jan. 21.

Thornton is being held in DeKalb County Jail, and police have not announced the date and time of his first court appearance.

Thornton also faces two armed robbery charges in Gwinnett County as well. So far, five people have been charged with crimes related to the armored car robbery spree. The FBI has been chasing the men responsible for the robberies since Sept. 14 when two men robbed a Garda armored courier while he was servicing an ATM at a Bank of America on Howell Mill Road. Two men struck again in Marietta Oct. 7 when they robbed a courier at gunpoint inside a Mex-America Latino store. 

Another robbery occurred in Buford on Nov. 11, Snellville on Nov. 29 and inside the Mall of Georgia in Gwinnett County on Dec. 7. A second courier was able to fire at one of the robbers who fled the mall through a side door, according to an FBI statement. The Redan Road and Toco Hill Shopping Center robberies followed.