DACULA — The Gwinnett County Police Department has arrested two suspects in the killing of a retired Gwinnett County deputy who was trying to stop a robbery at an O’Reilly’s store when he was killed in January.
According to the Gwinnett County Police Department, during the course of the homicide investigation, detectives identified two suspects in this case as 25-year-old Tavares Norah and 27-year-old Prince Robertson.
Norah turned himself into the Gwinnett County Jail at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 2. He has been charged with Armed Robbery (2 counts), Aggravated Assault (2 counts), Kidnapping (2 counts), and Possession of a Firearm during a Felony (1 count).
Robertson has been taken into custody.
Shortly after 3p.m., Tuesday someone called the 911 Center with a possible sighting of the suspect in the area of Old Peachtree Road and Old Fountain Road in unincorporated Lawrenceville. Officers quickly descended upon the area and arrested him without incident.
O’Reilly’s Robbery
Felix Cosme, a 63-year-old retired Gwinnett County deputy was shot during a robbery after he tried to assist another employee and drew his weapon.
The incident occurred at the O’Reilly Auto Parts store on Hamilton Mill Road in January.
When officers arrived, they found a Cosme dead inside the store.
There were two employees working at the store at the time of the incident. A female employee was outside assisting a customer when she noticed a black male seated in a vehicle in the parking lot.
Based on the preliminary investigation, police say the man followed the employee back inside when she was done with the customer. Once they got back inside, the man asked her to open the cash drawer.
According to police, it was at that point that Cosme walked out from the back of the store and saw the interaction between the female and the suspect. Cosme attempted to pull his weapon when he was shot by the man.
AutoZone Robbery
On June 1, officers responded to an armed robbery call at the Auto Zone at 645 Dacula Road in Dacula at about 9 p.m. Employees told the responding officers that a black male suspect entered the store and demanded the store’s cash while pointing a gun at them. He fled the store in a black vehicle.
Officers eventually tracked down the suspects’ vehicle where it crashed on La Maison Drive about 3 miles from the Auto Zone. Officers saturated the area looking for the suspects, and Reverse 911s were issued neighboring homes.
Detectives and officers determined that the two suspects who fled the vehicle were the same suspects from the homicide at the O’Reilly’s.
“We hope that these arrests can bring some comfort to the Cosme family,” said Gwinnett County Police spokesperson Michele Pihera.
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