Suspect Pleads Guilty in Carjacking, Murder Case

One of four suspects behind the botched carjacking and murder case has pleaded guilty to his part of the crime.

Maurice Kendrick Perkins 20, of Gary, Indiana, last month pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, armed robbery and aggravated assault and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Perkins is eligible for parole after 20 years.

Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit District Attorney Shannon Wallace added Perkins will not be eligible for parole until he's served at least 10 of the 20 years "since armed robbery carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison."

"It will be up to the (Georgia) Department of Corrections as to how much of the 20 year sentence he will actually have to serve, but it cannot be anything less than 10 years," she added. 

Perkins, along with Acworth residents Jumar Greer, 19, Quovadis Arrington, 23, Tavaris Arrington, 23, were all arrested and indicted in relation to a carjacking that resulted in the shooting death of a fellow suspect.

Perkins and Greer were both indicted on one count each of felony murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault with the intent to rob, hijacking a motor vehicle, kidnapping, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during commission of a felony.

Wallace added Greer has not been arraigned on the charges he's been indicted for.

Both Quovadis and Tavaris Arrington were each indicted on hindering apprehension or punishment of a criminal. Additionally, Tavarus Arrington was indicted on making a false statement. 

Deputies with the Cherokee Sheriff's Office on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2013, responded to a fatal accident along Highway 92 just west of Wade Green Road in southwest Cherokee County. A late model white Dodge Charger left the roadway, traveled down an embankment and hit a small tree.

The owner of the car, Justin Humphries, 19, of Acworth, told authorities he was carjacked, hit in the head with a pistol and then "placed in the back of the car and restrained," according to a press release from the sheriff's office.

Humphries was treated at a local hospital and later released. 

The driver of the vehicle and suspect in the crime, 27-year-old Rodrigueze Erashee Qrestopher Guirty, — who also was known as Andre Rodriguez — received a fatal gunshot wound to his upper torso. 

According to the indictment, both Perkins and Greer struggled with Humphries for control over a black Ruger .380 caliber pistol when the gun discharged and fatally hit Guirty.  

Perkins was apprehended in his hometown during a traffic stop while Greer and Quovadis Arrington were both nabbed along Interstate 75 in Jacksboro, Tennessee. Tavaris Arrington was arrested in Cherokee County.