Josiah Hughley was convicted on January 28, 2025, of felony murder and fourteen other counts for shooting Bradley Coleman during an attempted carjacking at a Gwinnett County QuikTrip in July 2022. A Gwinnett County Superior Court jury found the 22-year-old guilty on all charges after a retrial, and Judge Tamela Adkins sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus an additional 145 years to be served consecutively.1Gwinnett County. Guilty Verdict Reached in QT Carjacking Murder Two co-defendants, David Booker and Miles Collins, received the same life-without-parole sentence.
The Carjacking at the QuikTrip
Just after noon on July 10, 2022, Bradley Coleman was using the air pump at a QuikTrip at Peachtree Parkway and Peachtree Corner Circle in Peachtree Corners, Georgia. Coleman, 29, was a teacher and coach living in New Orleans, visiting family in the area where he had grown up.2FOX 5 Atlanta. Bradley Coleman Murder Retrial Day Two
A black vehicle pulled up next to him, and a group of men engaged him in a struggle over his Dodge Charger. Prosecutors established that Hughley shot Coleman once in the head and took Coleman’s own handgun from the scene. Booker acted as armed support during the carjacking attempt, and Collins drove the getaway car, a rented Mercedes-Benz.1Gwinnett County. Guilty Verdict Reached in QT Carjacking Murder Prosecutors described all three men as members of the Nine Trey Bloods gang and argued they had targeted Coleman’s car to elevate their status within the gang.
How Investigators Identified Hughley
Surveillance footage from the QuikTrip captured the shooting and the suspects fleeing in the Mercedes-Benz. Investigators used Flock license plate reader cameras to track the vehicle and traced the plate to a rental agreement; the person who had rented the car told police that Collins and Booker returned it roughly 90 minutes after the shooting.3The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 3rd Suspect Arrested in Fatal Shooting of Former Gwinnett Coach at QuikTrip Cell phone data placed all three suspects near the crime scene, and police learned that Hughley had sold Coleman’s stolen handgun after the shooting.1Gwinnett County. Guilty Verdict Reached in QT Carjacking Murder
Collins and Booker were arrested first. Hughley, then 20, was taken into custody on September 22, 2022, in Atlanta by the U.S. Marshals Service and the Gwinnett Sheriff’s Office fugitive unit, and was held without bond.3The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 3rd Suspect Arrested in Fatal Shooting of Former Gwinnett Coach at QuikTrip
The First Trial Ended in a Mistrial
A joint trial of the three defendants took place in Gwinnett County Superior Court in 2023 but ended in a mistrial. According to reporting on the second proceeding, the mistrial was declared because of “improper and prejudicial” comments made by the prosecution during the first trial.4FOX 5 Atlanta. Bradley Coleman Murder Retrial – Suspects Girlfriend Takes Stand
The Retrial and the Evidence Against Hughley
The retrial began in January 2025 before Judge Adkins, with Chief Assistant District Attorney John Melvin and Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney John Williams prosecuting.1Gwinnett County. Guilty Verdict Reached in QT Carjacking Murder A forensic biologist testified that DNA recovered from a mask found at the crime scene was linked to Hughley, the alleged shooter. Cell phone records placed the defendants at the QuikTrip at the time of the shooting.4FOX 5 Atlanta. Bradley Coleman Murder Retrial – Suspects Girlfriend Takes Stand
The jury also watched video of Hughley’s September 2022 police interrogation, in which he admitted shooting Coleman but claimed self-defense. “I didn’t mean to do it, I was panicking,” Hughley told detectives, saying he believed Coleman was reaching for a gun: “I was like, he’s going to grab his gun, he’s going to shoot me.”5WSB-TV. Man Claims He Shot Gwinnett Father, Coach in Self-Defense A state trooper testified that Hughley had been arrested in 2019 after abandoning a stolen vehicle during a police chase.6WSB-TV. Men Accused of Killing Gwinnett Father, Coach Have Been Out of Jail, Officers Testify
Jermiya Pledger, Collins’s girlfriend and the mother of his child, testified that she had given Collins money to rent the car prosecutors identified as the getaway vehicle. On redirect, Pledger acknowledged that her account had shifted from her sworn testimony in 2023, when she had placed Collins with Hughley on the day of the crime; at the retrial, she said she picked Collins up alone.4FOX 5 Atlanta. Bradley Coleman Murder Retrial – Suspects Girlfriend Takes Stand
The Verdict and Sentence
On January 28, 2025, the jury convicted Hughley on 15 charges: two counts of felony murder, aggravated assault, hijacking a motor vehicle, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and ten counts of violating Georgia’s Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act. Booker and Collins were convicted on the same charges.1Gwinnett County. Guilty Verdict Reached in QT Carjacking Murder
Judge Adkins sentenced all three men to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Hughley’s sentence carried an additional 145 years to be served consecutively.1Gwinnett County. Guilty Verdict Reached in QT Carjacking Murder Coleman’s family delivered impact statements before sentencing, and a brief confrontation broke out after Collins, being led from the courtroom, turned to the family and said, “I hope y’all are happy.” A court officer restrained Coleman’s brother, and Judge Adkins reminded the family that “nothing that happens in this courtroom is going to bring Bradley Coleman back.”7FOX 5 Atlanta. Bradley Coleman Guilty Verdict Sentencing
Who Bradley Coleman Was
Coleman grew up in Georgia and attended Norcross High School, where he was a scholar-athlete, won the state basketball championship, and was named “Mr. Norcross 2011.” He earned two degrees at Southern University on a full-ride scholarship, then taught and coached at Mountain View High School and Peachtree Ridge in Georgia before moving to New Orleans to continue that work. His mother described him as a “gentle giant.”7FOX 5 Atlanta. Bradley Coleman Guilty Verdict Sentencing
After his death, his parents established the Bradley L. Coleman Legacy Scholarship Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit sponsored through the Community Foundation of Northeast Georgia. The foundation awards scholarships to student-athletes who lack the resources to attend college, covering expenses such as tuition and books, and gave its first scholarship for the 2025–26 academic year.8BLC Legacy Foundation. Bradley L. Coleman Legacy Scholarship Foundation The case was also featured on A&E Network’s The First 48 and After the First 48.