Georgia brawlers beat stranger to death

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. -- It began with a brawl outside a house party. A woman hit a man, and the man refused to strike back, saying he wouldn't hit a girl. Instead, he vowed to attack the next male who walked by, even if that person was a random stranger.

That's when 18-year-old Bobby Tillman happened to approach a group of four partygoers, who swiftly stomped, kicked and punched him to death while dozens of bystanders watched.

"He had nothing to do with anything," said Maj. Tommy Wheeler of the Douglas County Sheriff's Department. "They just decided he's the one. And they killed him."

The party was supposed to be a small gathering of about 10 friends of a high school girl who lived in the middle-class suburb west of Atlanta. But it soon grew to an unruly crowd of about 80 people after word spread by e-mail and text message, authorities said.

As the crowd grew, the girl's parents asked the partygoers to leave. But the party just spilled into the street, and neighbors became frustrated as the neighborhood filled with parked cars.

That's when a fight broke out between two women and two men, and one of the women hit a man, Wheeler said.

Then, in a case of twisted chivalry, investigators said the man decided he would not retaliate -- but vowed to beat up the next man who passed by.

Tillman, who had apparently come for the party but attended a different high school than most of the other young people, unwittingly became the target.

Authorities bused dozens of witnesses to the sheriff's office for questioning and arrested four people.

Tillman's mother, Monique Rivarde, couldn't contain herself Monday during an initial hearing for the suspects, bursting into tears as soon as she set foot in the courtroom and wailing as prosecutors charged each man with fatally beating her son.

"He was an angel here on Earth, and I was blessed to be his mother," Rivarde said. "My son did not die in vain. My son is a silent hero. He touched so many lives I didn't know about. Bobby was a ray of sunshine through every dark cloud that anyone had."

The four suspects were identified as Quantez Devonta Mallory, 18; Horace Damon Coleman, 19; Emanuel Benjamin Boykins, 18; and Tracen Lamar Franklin, 19. All were charged with murder Monday.

The parents of the girl who threw the party did not answer their door Monday. Douglas County Sheriff Phil Miller did not expect them to face charges. He said no drugs or alcohol were found in the house.

Douglas County District Attorney David McDade said he will ask a grand jury to indict the men within two weeks. He did not say whether he would pursue the death penalty.