Midway Through Trial, Repeat Robber Admits Guilt: Cobb DA

COBB COUNTY, GA—A Brookhaven man who committed two armed robberies and an aggravated assault in the same location has been sentenced to prison.

On Wednesday, three days into a jury trial, Brandon Juvan Washington, 28, pleaded guilty to committing the two armed robberies and an aggravated assault in November 2018.

In the first armed robbery, on the afternoon of Nov. 4, 2018, prosecutors in the case say Washington arranged via Snapchat to buy a cell phone from a woman in a parking lot at Chattahoochee Technical College, on South Cobb Drive in Marietta. Washington, who was armed with a handgun, robbed the woman of her phone and also pointed the handgun at a friend who accompanied the woman to the sale.

The second armed robbery occurred on the evening of Nov. 30, 2018, in the same lot -- and even the same parking space -- at Chattahoochee Tech. In that attack, police say Washington arranged via Snapchat to meet up with a woman he knew from college some five years earlier, and directed her where to meet him and where to park. When she arrived, Washington was again armed with a handgun and took the woman’s phone, purse, and items that she had purchased as Christmas gifts.

Prosecutors said Washington led both women to believe that he was a student at Chattahoochee Tech and lived nearby, which was false. Although he deleted his Snapchat account after each armed robbery, when he reactivated it under a different name, the information re-appeared in each victim’s account, which assisted law enforcement with his apprehension.

“The lives of these three incredibly strong-willed women have been changed due to this defendant’s violent acts. They have altered their daily routines, are constantly watching their surroundings, and find themselves always on high alert. The fact that he finally admitted to his acts will hopefully assist with some type of closure for them,” said Senior ADA Tricia Hull, who prosecuted this case with ADA Jay Winkler.

On Wednesday, Washington pleaded guilty to two counts of armed robbery, aggravated assault and three counts of possession of a firearm during commission of a felony.

Cobb Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark sentenced him to 35 years, with 20 years to serve in custody and the balance on probation. Washington has been in custody since Jan. 1, 2019, and will get credit for the time he has served.

Cobb police investigated this case.