FIRST OF TWO DEFENDANT’S CONVICTED IN CAB DRIVER ROBBERY/MURDER

Video Surveillance Led to Defendant’s Capture

Atlanta- Fulton County District Attorney Paul L. Howard, Jr. announces the conviction by jury trial of Quantavious Deon Harris, 20. Harris was convicted Monday night of Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, Criminal Attempt to Commit Armed Robbery and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony for the shooting death of cab driver Stephen Anim, 57.

Atlanta Police discovered Mr. Anim’s body slumped in the driver’s seat of his cab on April 22, 2009. The vehicle had apparently crashed into the gate of the Big Bethel Village retirement facility on Richard Allen Boulevard. The investigation later revealed that Defendant Harris, then 17, and another suspect got into the victim’s cab at the Hamilton E. Holmes Marta Station. Once inside, the men demanded the victim’s property. Soon after, the cab driver was shot in the back of the head. He died clinching $17 in cash. $800 and a GPS system were later discovered missing from the vehicle. The suspects fled the scene but surveillance video of the men entering the cab led to their arrests after it was aired on television.

Quantavious Harris was sentenced to life plus ten years in prison by presiding Fulton County Superior Court Judge Amanda Lee. Trial is pending for Samuel Ellis, indicted as Harris’s co-defendant.

The case was prosecuted by Executive Assistant District Attorney Fani Willis with assistance from ADA Morgan Perkins and Senior DA Investigator Olyemphis Huff. Detective A. Smith of the Atlanta Police Department led the initial investigation.

Media Contact: Yvette Brown, 404-224-0560/404-392-8867, yvette.brown@fultoncountyga.gov