Seventeen-year-old Pedro Garcia Jr. was fatally shot on a street in southeast Macon, Georgia, in September 2018 after finishing a shift at Wendy’s. Prosecutors say the killing grew out of a dispute over a gold necklace Garcia was wearing. He had argued with another 17-year-old, Tajah Coleman, then left to go to a nearby store. On his way home he was ambushed; Coleman attempted to rob him at gunpoint and during a struggle, in which Coleman was pulling at Garcia’s shirt and necklace, Garcia was shot once in the chest. He collapsed a short distance from his front porch and died at the scene.

The investigation identified two suspects: 17-year-old Tajah Coleman and 17-year-old Ja’Reyse Pollard. A tip the day after the shooting led officers to a report that Pollard had disposed of a gun in a car; ballistics matched that gun to the bullets that killed Garcia. Pollard later admitted involvement in the planned robbery. In September 2019 both defendants, then 18, were sentenced: Tajah Deshun Coleman pleaded guilty to felony murder and received life with the possibility of parole, and Ja’Reyse Detrez Pollard pleaded guilty to armed robbery and received a 20-year sentence.

Did anyone in Macon who knew Pedro or saw activity on Villa Crest Avenue that night come forward with information?