Man Gets Life Sentence For Robbing Dollar General, Kidnapping

DOUGLASVILLE, GA — A DeKalb man sentenced to life without parole earlier this month for robbing the Dollar General on Thornton Road and kidnapping one of its employees in 2014.

Adam Montrell Gober was sentenced by Superior Court Judge William H. “Beau” McClain Feb. 12 following a jury trial where he was convicted of two counts of armed robbery, one count of kidnapping, two counts of aggravated assault, and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Assistant District Attorney David Emadi requested the defendant be sentenced to life without parole while the defendant pled for mercy from the court during sentencing. McClain agreed with the State’s recommendation and sentenced the defendant to life in prison without parole plus an additional 30 years to serve.

On May 13, 2014, defendant Adam Gober and his co-defendant Rodriquez Walker left their Decatur studio where they were ingesting various drugs and drove into Douglas County, exiting off of Interstate 20 at Thornton Road. They entered the Dollar General on Thornton Road at approximately 8 p.m. and were seen on video surveillance recordings casing the store and asking employees questions about when the store closed and how many employees were typically on the floor. Just before 10 p.m. both Defendants re-entered the Dollar General, and Gober was the last person in line checking out as the store closed. As the defendant placed a case of Coke Zero on the register, he pulled a gun out and pointed it at the cashier and demanded she and the night manager turn over all the cash from the tills and the safe, all while repeatedly threatening to kill the victims if they did not comply.

At the conclusion of the armed robbery as they exited the store to leave a patrol deputy was seen patrolling nearby, and Gober told the assistant cashier she could leave, but that the 19 year old night manager had to come with him. He transported her at gunpoint and put her in his vehicle where his co-defendant and lookout was waiting. After placing the 19-year-old victim in the driver’s seat of his vehicle, he told her to drive and get onto I-20 and head back towards Atlanta. The victim testified at trial that she knew if she got on the Interstate she would end up dead, so she decided to turn into the Burger King just before the I-20 off-ramp so there would be video if he killed her. After turning into the Burger King, the victim pled for her life and begged to be let go. Walker also urged Gober to let the victim go, fearing if they didn’t let her go then, that Gober would end up killing her. Ultimately the victim was allowed to exit the car and she fled on foot back across Thornton Road toward the Dollar General where law enforcement was on scene having been alerted by the cashier's 911 call of the robbery. The defendants fled the area and drove back to Decatur.

Days after the robbery, law enforcement received a break in the case when Walker posted a photograph of himself on social media wearing the same shirt he was seen wearing at the Dollar General the night of the robbery. After subpoenas were sent for those Instagram records, Investigator Trent Wilson and Captain Jamie Harrell identified and located both defendants in the DeKalb County jail. Law enforcement searched Gober’s vehicle and property at the DeKalb County jail and they recovered the hat and shoes Gober was seen wearing during the armed robbery. Both victims were able to immediately identify Gober in separate photographic lineups as the gunman. Prior to trial, co-defendant Rodriquez Walker pled guilty as the lookout and getaway driver of the robbery and agreed to provide truthful testimony. Following a nearly week long jury trial, the jury convicted Gober of all counts after less than 50 minutes of deliberation.

During sentencing Emadi reiterated to the court how close the case came to becoming a homicide, arguing that but for defendant Walker’s pleas for Gober to release the victim, the victim very likely would have been murdered based on Gober’s violent behavior that night and his multiple death threats towards the victim. Also introduced during sentencing was Gober’s extensive criminal record which included felony convictions for attempted armed robbery with a deadly weapon in Las Vegas, robbery by force in Clayton County, residential burglary in Clayton County, along with four other felony convictions.

Emadi called Gober, “A menace to society who has shown by his actions in this case, and by his consistently violent behavior since becoming an adult over the past decade, that unless he is behind bars he will continue to be a threat to the safety and well-being of anyone he may come into contact with no matter where he goes.

McClain agreed and sentenced the defendant to the maximum sentence allowed under the law, saying, “I have a responsibility to protect the community at large from you. This sentence ensures you will spend the rest of your natural life in prison.”

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys David Emadi and Joe Cusack.

Photo courtesy Douglas County DA's Office