A high-ranking Sir 13 gang member was convicted on Monday in a murder that happened two years ago.
On July 17, 2015, Gwinnett County Police found the body of Kevin Orlando Rivera with multiple gunshot sounds in the Forest Vale apartment complex parking lot n Norcross.
Investigators found that Rivera had been involved in a robbery of a large amount of methamphetamine and was also shot approximately two weeks prior to his death.
This resulted in police finding multiple suspects for his murder, however, detectives with the Homicide and Gang Units were able to gather evidence that pointed to one suspect in particular, Elijah Rodriguez a/k/a "Joker" a/k/a "El Jefe El Combo.
Detectives said Rodriguez and Rivera had been in a physical altercation in a Norcross hotel room prior to Rivera's death. Rodriguez told detectives he was at a nightclub in DeKalb County the night of the murder, but instead they found he was in the area. Police also said Rodriguez was attempting to purchase a pistol from a fellow Sir 13 gang member in order to commit the crime. The prosecution admitted a photograph of Rodriguez sitting on a bed holding two firearms and a pistol at his side just minutes prior to Rivera's murder.
The prosecution also presented evidence that that Rodriguez attacked a fellow inmate in the Gwinnett County Detention Center to keep him from testifying against him at trial and he continued to arrange multi-kilogram methamphetamine transactions while in jail awaiting his court date.
Rodriguez was found guilty of felony murder, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, conspiracy to traffic in methamphetamine, aggravated battery, 3 counts of Criminal Gang Activity, Influencing a Witness, and Aggravated Assault. Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge Karen Beyers gave him the maximum sentences, life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 135 years to be served in prison following the life sentence.
