Man found guilty in murder of Decatur church deacon

A man charged in the July 2016 murder of a DeKalb County church deacon has been found guilty.

DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston said in a news release Monday that jurors convicted Jacob Pyne, 24, on charges of murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and weapons offenses in the shooting death of 52-year-old Gerard Foster, a Deacon at Living Water Christian Baptist Church in Decatur.

On July 6, 2016, Foster was shot multiple times— in his head, neck and chest—in the breezeway of his Robins Street apartment complex. Surveillance video showed Pyne fleeing the area with a female accomplice. He was later arrested in Tennessee following tips to police identifying him as the shooter.

Investigators couldn’t identify a clear motive for Foster’s murder, but believe Pyne lashed out at him as he passed him on the apartment's steps, according to the statement.

Pyne’s sentencing is scheduled for July 26.

Pyne’s indicted co-denfenant, Christonya Section, will be tried at a later date.

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