Inset: Shiva Vereen (DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office). Background: Shiva Vereen opened fire on his friend Andrew Carpenter over a $1,600 debt he owed him at the DaBomb Sports Grill in DeKalb County, Ga. (WAGA).
An “intoxicated” Georgia man who was picking up his sister from a bar and “frustrated” that she wouldn’t come outside stormed in to get her. As the man walked inside, he saw a friend who owed him money, prompting him to confront the person and gun them down following a 40-minute talk inside the victim’s car, prosecutors say.
Shiva Vereen, 52, was sentenced to life in prison on Friday after being convicted by a DeKalb County jury that same day, according to court documents viewed and obtained by Law&Crime on Tuesday. He was found guilty of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony after shooting Andrew Carpenter outside the DaBomb Sports Grill on Feb. 13, 2023, in the 2900 block of Evans Mill Road.
Officers arrived at the business and found Carpenter “lying on the ground in the parking lot” with multiple gunshot wounds to his head and chest. Vereen had walked outside with him to talk about $1,600 that Carpenter allegedly owed him when things turned violent between the pair. They spoke for roughly 40 minutes inside Carpenter’s vehicle before exiting. Vereen, who was in the front passenger seat, went to retrieve a “black handgun” from his Lincoln SUV, per cops, before opening fire.
The shooting was captured on surveillance video obtained by Atlanta Fox affiliate WAGA and shown at trial.
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“[Vereen] walks back and confronts the victim with a black handgun, shooting the victim multiple times at close range,” Vereen’s arrest affidavit said. “Shiva walks back to the black sedan and flees the scene.”
Carpenter was with his girlfriend that night at DaBomb Sports Grill when he was killed. She spoke to police and identified Vereen in a photo lineup. An “ex-girlfriend” of Vereen’s was also interviewed by cops.
“He was talking to her before the shooting around 12:48 a.m.,” the affidavit said.
“He was intoxicated but otherwise normal,” cops recounted. “He said he was driving to the bar to pick up his sister. Shiva was frustrated because he was texting his sister and she was not coming out so he would have to go in to get her.”
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At around 3:24 a.m., the woman got a call from Vereen stating he “just got shot and killed someone, and he was going on the run,” according to the affidavit. A review of Vereen and Carpenter’s cellphone records showed text correspondence between the two of them about the $1,600 Vereen allegedly loaned to Carpenter.
“That person is all on camera, his face and everything,” said restaurant owner Gary DeCosta in an interview with WAGA the day after the shooting.
“He stood over that guy after he shot him and kept on shooting,” DeCosta told the outlet, describing the incident as “coldhearted.”
Vereen was arrested three weeks later in Texas after being pulled over for driving with a fake dealership tag on his car. He claimed during his trial that Carpenter allegedly pulled a gun on him and threatened his family while they were chatting, and that he acted in self-defense. He also claimed he blacked out, with his attorneys claiming Vereen suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome related to his time as a “career combat soldier” with the U.S. Army, according to a motion for bond.
“[Vereen] produced evidence that this current case is defendant’s first ever criminal arrest,” the motion said. “He resides in Georgia and has substantial ties to the community. In support, defendant’s cousin, Anthony Vereen, testified that defendant was a career combat soldier with the United States Army.”
