Woman, son guilty in killing of Atlanta store owner

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Feeling sorry for the customer who said his mom no longer had a place to live, gas station owner Zerit Haileslasie let the mother stay in a shed behind the store rent-free.

A few days later, the man entered the Shell service station in the 3100 block of Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway and fatally shot Haileslasi three times. Store surveillance cameras then caught the man and his mother stealing money from the cash register.

The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday that the mother, 47-year-old Regina Roberts, has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the December 2006 shooting and testified against her son.

The son, David Leeks, 26, was found guilty last week of malice murder. He was sentenced to life plus 25 years in prison. Roberts was given 20 years.

Haileslasie, known in the neighborhood as Simon, had moved to Atlanta from Toronto to help run the family business.

“He was saving money to become the next in the family of Ethiopian entrepreneurs to open a store,” said District Attorney spokeswoman Lyn Vaughn.