Acworth, Georgia

From Atlanta’s 11Alive.com of September 13, 2005

Carjacker, Victim Killed in Cobb

An armed bystander shot and killed a carjacker Monday morning in Acworth, Ga., after the suspect caused an accident that killed his female victim.

Late that evening, police were continuing to piece together details of the carjacking and accident that shut down Cobb Parkway (U.S. 41) at Acworth Drive.

According to police, sometime after 9 a.m., 30-year-old Kimberly Boyd of Acworth stopped at a gas station at Highway 41 and Upper 92/Lake Acworth Drive in Cobb County. A man there approached Boyd and carjacked her, taking her with him.

Some witnesses said the woman struggled with her assailant, who also beat her before speeding away in her vehicle. Other witnesses said the woman struggled with the man after the carjacker drove off with her in tow.

Traveling down the roadway, the sport-utility vehicle ultimately struck a guardrail before the carjacker tried to turn eastbound onto Lake Acworth Drive from southbound Cobb Parkway. He veered the sport-utility vehicle directly into the path of a large green cement truck traveling northbound, police said.

The cement truck T-boned the Sequioa, killing the young mother when the truck struck the passenger side of her vehicle, police said.

Still carrying a handgun, the carjacker fled from the SUV on foot, running toward the Raceway gas station on the northeast corner of the intersection.

A man who had witnessed the carjacking and followed the Sequioa in his black 2004 Dodge Ram truck confronted the gunman in the intersection. According to police, the citizen – identified as Shawn Roberts – shot the suspect three times, killing him.

Roberts, of Acworth, was taken into custody for questioning by Cobb County police. Via telephone, he later told 11Alive’s Kevin Rowson he had no choice but to shoot the carjacker because he was turning his gun toward him. Roberts said it was him or the carjacker.

Rebecca Porter, who says she saw the shooting from her nearby business, says Roberts’ actions might have actualy prevented another loss of life.

“He didn’t have a chance,” she said.

“He pointed his gun and the other guy started shooting, which is a good thing because if he had gotten away, somebody else could have gotten hurt. So, I feel bad for him, but I’m kind of grateful. That I’m normally here alone, it’s really scary.”

Cobb County police said it appeared the citizen acted lawfully and, quite possibly, prevented another crime from taking place.

(More)

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution of September 14, 2005

Suspect in carjacking a molester

Acworth police link man to rape there last week

The carjacker-kidnapper shot dead Monday by a passer-by in Cobb County had a conviction for sex crimes and has been tentatively connected to a rape last week in Acworth, police said Tuesday.

Despite his conviction for child molestation and statutory rape, Brian O'Neil Clark, 25, does not appear in the state's database for sexual offenders, and state officials were at a lost to explain why.

As details came out about her abductor Tuesday, so too did a picture of the victim. Kimberly Boyd, 30, was kidnapped at gunpoint shortly after leaving her office Monday morning, police said. She died when Clark turned into the path of a cement truck, causing a collision.

Friends say she was considering a shift from working mother to stay-at-home mom.
Investigators also revealed that Boyd had been shot as she struggled with her abductor. The coroner did not detail the extent of her wound, but police believe she was alive when the cement truck hit her Toyota Sequoia broadside.

As Clark was fleeing that accident, he was shot dead by motorist Shawn Roberts, who had seen Boyd and Clark struggling and followed as the car careened down U.S. 41 in Acworth. Cobb police Lt. Kevin Flynn, said Tuesday that Roberts, 31, was cooperating and appeared to have acted lawfully.

Roberts said he believes that killing Clark probably saved more lives.

Clark had a history of criminal offenses in Cherokee and Cobb counties, according to police and court records.

In April 2002, he was arrested in Illinois and returned to Georgia to face child molestation, statutory rape and burglary charges in Cobb, where he received an 18-month sentence, jail records show.

In Cherokee, Clark was convicted in 2004 of first-degree forgery and was released June 13 after a year in state prison.

Family, friends mourn

Clark had been placed on the sexual offenders database operated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigations after his conviction in Cobb, GBI spokesman John Bankhead said. He was removed from the list while serving time for the forgery conviction, but should have been added after his release three months ago, Bankhead said.

"It's very peculiar that he isn't" on the list, Bankhead said Tuesday. "We're investigating to find out why."

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From Atlanta’s WSBRadio.com of April 18, 2006

A Cobb County grand jury has cleared a Kennesaw man who shot a carjacking suspect last september. Grand Jurors decided Shawn T. Roberts was justified in shooting Bryon O'Neil Clark, who had been released from [sic] just three months before he abducted and carjacked Kimberly Boyd.

Cobb County District Attorney Pat Head says the Grand Jury ruling means there will be no charges filed against Roberts. It was found that Clark had raised a gun and pointed it in Roberts direction when he was killed.

The assailant had already shot his carjacking victim before Roberts arrived on the scene. The Mother of two was killed when her stolen car being driven by Clark was hit by a cement truck.