Trio Convicted of 2013 Mableton Beating Death Get Sentenced

Three men who were convicted by a Cobb County jury in the June 2013 beating and subsequent death of a 36-year-old man at a Mableton gas station have been sentenced to life in prison, the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.

Jonathan Donald Anthony, Antonio Shantwan Pass, and Jekari Oshay Strozier were all convicted earlier this month of murder and violations of the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act for their roles in the death of Joshua Chellew on June 30, 2013.

Cobb County Superior Court Judge Adele Grubbs sentenced Strozier and Anthony to life terms in prison, followed by another 15 year sentence and another 30 years on probation. Grubbs also sentenced Pass to life in prison, followed by 15 years of probation. A fourth defendant, Kemonta Deandre Bonds, was acquitted on all charges.

“This was a senseless and brutal attack on Mr. Chellew,” Jesse Evans, Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney, said in a statement.

According to Cobb County police investigators, the men were loitering as part of a crowd of people at the Chevron station in the 6000 block of Mableton Parkway near Factory Shoals Road when Chellew and a friend pulled in to get gas at approximately 1 a.m.

Chellew, later determined to be intoxicated at the time, allegedly held up a blue bandanna to insult the loiterers, who were members of the Re-Up street gang. Re-Up uses red as one of its primary colors, and took Chellew’s use of the blue bandanna as a mark of disrespect.

The defendants surrounded Chellew, and he tried to flee the scene. He ran across two lanes of Mableton Parkway and crossed the median before the defendants caught up with him and beat him unconscious. He was later run over and killed by a passing car.

“Joshua was my only child, and when your only child dies, you’re no longer a mother,” Chellew’s mother, Donna Hogan said in a statement. “This is a heinous crime that has been committed against my son and my family.”