DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Two men have learned their fate after a DeKalb County man was beaten to death in a "random and unprovoked" attack four years ago, according to the district attorney's office.
Jaheim Sims, 22, will spend the rest of his life in prison. His co-defendant, who was not named, took a plea deal and was sentenced to 30 years to serve 20 in confinement with the balance on parole.
A jury found Sims guilty of three counts of felony murder, aggravated battery, two counts of aggravated assault and gun possession. His co-defendant only pled guilty to aggravated battery, gun possession during a felony, and gun possession by a first-offender probationer.
The deadly incident happened on September 10, 2020, after police got a call about the assault on Tilly Mill Road. When Doraville Police arrived on the scene, they found 56-year-old Mario Vasquez Lopez severely beaten.
He was taken to the hospital and remained there for three months to undergo several procedures after suffering from a severe brain injury. Doctors determined Vasquez Lopez was unlikely that he would ever recover.
Prosecutors said he was then transported to Guatemala in December 2020 where his family cared for him for nearly two years. They added that Vasquez Lopez never regained consciousness and died in October 2022 from the delayed effects of blunt force trauma to the head.
According to a release from the district attorney's office, a witness told investigators that he heard someone screaming and looked outside to see two men beating a man at the end of his driveway.
The witness then told police it appeared the victim lost consciousness, but the attackers kept going, even dragging the man across the street to continue beating him.
Shortly after the suspects ran away, police were able to find two men fitting their description a quarter mile from where the scene was. The suspects were identified as Sims and the unnamed co-defendant.
The release stated that during an interview with detectives, the co-defendant said the two were on a walk when they encountered Vasquez Lopez walking ahead.
Lopez then stopped to tie his shoe, and that's when Sims initiated the attack by kicking the 56-year-old man in the back of the head, according to the co-defendant.
The co-defendant also revealed that the two ran after they saw headlights from an approaching car and threw the guns they were carrying into the bushes.
Investigators then determined that the attack was "random and unprovoked," and there is no evidence that the 56-year-old knew the two men.
