Lashumbia D. Session was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole by Cobb County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Childs after Session was convicted of eight counts of armed robbery.
The robberies took place in Austell, Marietta and Powder Springs, and at the time of the robberies Session and accomplice Mykia Wilson were compared to “Bonnie and Clyde” by then-Marietta Police Chief Dan Flynn (see a reprint of the article from the Courier written at the time of the arrests appended to the bottom of this article).
The sentence was handed down on October 31 after the October 28 conviction by a jury.
A public information release from the office of Cobb District Attorney Flynn Broady, Jr. described the investigation and trial as follows:
“Session’s charges stemmed from six separate armed robberies in 2018 of businesses in Cobb County. The incidents were all captured on video. Three of the victims identified Session from photo lineups. During the investigation, law enforcement found Session’s DNA at two of the crime scenes. Some of the stolen items were found in Session’s possession at the time of arrest.
“During Session’s trial, Senior Assistant District Attorney Marty First presented the testimony of law enforcement, victims, surveillance footage, and DNA evidence. After a weeklong trial, the jury returned a guilty verdict on all eight counts of the indictment. Co-Defendant Mykia Wilson entered a guilty plea in 2019 to multiple counts of Armed Robbery and was sentenced to twenty years in prison.”
The prosecution team for the trial included Senior Assistant District Attorney Marty First, Investigator P. Stacy, Victim Advocate Crystal Vasquez, and Legal Administrative Assistant Debra Griffin.
Sessions had been declared indigent by the court, and was represented by Smyrna defense attorney Kevin Rodgers.
Session’s co-defendant Wilson, who entered a guilty plea in 2019, had been represented by Marietta attorney John Allen Hildebrand.
Senior Assistant District Attorney First stated, “Session robbed employees and customers, while armed with a large handgun. A dangerous violent criminal will no longer be able to prey on innocent victims.”
Reprint of the 2018 article from Cobb County Courier written at the time of Sessions’ arrest
In a news release yesterday, Marietta police Chief Dan Flynn published an article declaring two high-profile robbery suspects a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde. He wrote, “Their spree, however, ended in Adel, Ga. with a much different outcome than Bonnie and Clyde; the difference being no one was injured in the Session and Wilson crime spree nor when they were taken into custody without incident.”
Lashumbia Session, 38, and Mykia Wilson, 37 have been charged on suspicion of multiple crimes connected to a series of robberies, most along Austell Road between South Cobb Drive and the East West Connector. The investigation of the crime spree began with a series of robberies in early August.
Marietta police chief describes investigation and arrest
Flynn, in his article, described the beginning of the Marietta Police Department’s role in investigating the series of incidents, which were already under investigation by the Cobb County Police Department.
“On Tuesday, August 7, 2018 at 4:24 a.m., two suspects, one male – one female robbed a convenience store at gunpoint in Marietta, Ga. Initial responding officers of the Marietta Police Department (MPD) rapidly broadcasted a detailed bulletin/ B.O.L.O. on the police radio network and notified the on-call detective, Mike Selleck, of the Marietta Police Department (MPD). Almost immediately, Sergeant Colin Berry (MPD) heard the broadcast and recalled that the neighboring Cobb County Police Department (CCPD) had issued a similar description for male and female robbery suspects a few days earlier. He immediately related his observations to Detective Selleck.”
He wrote that his department contacted the Cobb County Police Department, and Detective Bratley of the Cobb County department informed the Marietta police that the Smyrna Police Department was also investigating robberies that were possibly the work of the two suspects.
The three departments formed a collaborative multi-agency investigative task force, and found evidence that the suspects might be headed to Florida.
Flynn wrote, “Thus, they broadcasted the B.O.L.O. statewide in Georgia and it was received by Georgia State Patrol (GSP) Trooper First Class Reid who was assigned to the South Georgia Region. TFC Reid in turn notified Lieutenant Chris Griffin of the Adel Police Department (APD) (Adel is a South Georgia municipality approximately 220 miles away from the Marietta/Cobb area.) Together they set out searching the Adel area for Session and Wilson.
During their search, TFC Reid and Lt. Griffin found Session and Wilson and apprehended them in a shopping center parking lot in Adel.”
Flynn reported that the funeral procession for a former police chief was underway nearby, and numerous officers flooded into the parking lot when the arrest was made.
“It had to be a sight to behold for Sessions and Wilson,” Flynn wrote.