Man gets life without parole in Smyrna gas station murder

COBB COUNTY, Ga. - A man will spend the rest of his life in prison for the murder of a gas station customer in Smyrna last year. 

On May 15, 2017, 39-year-old victim Genaro Rojas-Martinez parked his car at one of the pumps at the Texaco on South Cobb Drive. Authorities said while he was inside to pay for gas and other items, 37-year-old Joseph Priester parked on the other side of the same pump. 

Authorities said when Rojas-Martinez returned to his car, Priester walked up behind him and shot him in the back of the head, then sped off in a green Chevrolet Avalanche. 

U.S. Marshals eventually arrested the suspect in New Jersey. Investigators learned the suspect and victim didn't know each other. 

On Friday, after a week-long trial, a Cobb County jury found Priester guilty of all charges in Rojas-Martinez's murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole, plus five years to serve. 

Rojas-Martinez left behind a wife and three daughters.