Four Ghostface Gangster associates have been sentenced to prison for their role in the 2015 murder of Alexander Alcides Lara Ayala, according to an announcement from Cobb District Attorney Vic Reynolds.
Christopher Lee Brewster, 29, of Austell, and Kenneth Lamar Ransom, 42, of Lithia Springs, pleaded guilty to murder and one count of violating Georgia’s street gang terrorism and prevention act in Cobb County Superior Court on Monday.
Judge Robert E. Flournoy III sentenced Brewster and Ransom to life in prison.
According to the press release,
Last week, Chelsea Jane Walker, 25, of Marietta pleaded guilty to three counts of gang-act violations and was sentenced to 40 years, with 20 years to serve in prison and the rest on probation.
Jason Adam Chester, 32, of Mableton, pleaded guilty in October to three gang counts and was sentenced to 25 years, with 15 years to serve in prison.
“This case is an outstanding example of how aggressive use of Georgia’s anti-gang laws can be used to eradicate criminal street gangs like the Ghostface Gangsters,” Reynolds said.
The victim’s body was found on February 25, 2015, off Blackhawk Trail in Mableton. Cobb County police found a nearby truck engulfed in flames, and connected it to the victim and the defendants.
“Police ultimately determined that the defendants, all of whom were associated with Ghostface, lured the victim to the Blackhawk Trail location, where he was ambushed, shot, and killed two days before his body was found,” the press release from the D.A.’s office stated.
Senior ADA Jaret Usher, who prosecuted the case, said for the press release: “This victim suffered greatly at the hands of the defendants in this case and their gang. With these guilty pleas, we have not only sent an undeniable message to these defendants but to the entire Ghostface Gang that this sort of brutal, gang-motivated crime will not be tolerated in Cobb County.”
Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Mike Carlson, who also worked on the case, said, “A key factor in achieving this tremendous resolution is the signature methodology that this office utilizes in street-gang prosecutions.”
Ghostface Gangsters is a criminal street gang with Georgia roots and is known for violent crimes, illegal narcotics and property related crimes.
Ghostface Gangsters
A press release from the U.S. Department of Justice issued last March during the indictment of 23 members describes the Ghost Face Killer gang as follows:
According to the indictment, the Ghostface Gangsters is a whites-only prison gang formed in the year 2000 in the Cobb County, Georgia jail system. The gang has since expanded outside the prison system, and its membership is now estimated to include thousands of members throughout Georgia. The gang is highly organized into different positions of leadership, including, for example, the founding “Pillars” of the gang, those having a “seat at the table,” “First Lady” and numerous state-wide positions of governance. Members follow written gang literature, use violence to enforce gang rules, and facilitated the gang’s criminal activities from within prisons using contraband cell phones.