Man who rented Tesla, shot man to death a year after a fight will spend life +25 years in prison

WSBTV.com News Staff
·2 min read
12

A Gwinnett County jury found a man guilty of killing another man in a “revenge shooting” for a fight they had a year before the murder will spend the rest of his life in jail.

A judge sentenced Neil Frasdilla on Tuesday in the murder of Darius Dugger.

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Darius Dugger was shot to death in Sept. 2023. Prosecutors said Frasdilla rented a Tesla car and followed the victim on his way to a family dinner.

Dugger’s fiancé told Channel 2 Action News that someone followed them for several miles and then opened fire on Dugger’s truck. The couple was with their four-year-old son when it happened.

Police identified Frasdilla as the shooter and used technology from the Tesla to track him down. Earlier this month, the Gwinnett County DA’s Office announced that a jury found Frasdilla guilty in Dugger’s murder.

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Frasdilla was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole plus 25 years.

Prosecutors argued that Frasdilla wanted revenge against Dugger for helping his girlfriend, who reported that she was being abused.

Dugger confronted Frasdilla about the abuse and the two got into a fight when Frasdilla refused to leave and grabbed a gun from his car.

A year later, Frasdilla rented a gray Tesla and followed Dugger, his fiancé and their son on their way to Red Lobster, according to the DA’s office.

“Somebody just reached in the car and just started shooting,” Dugger’s fiancé told Channel 2 Action News in September. “As he put his head out, the fire, the fire just came.”

The fiancé said she checked for Dugger’s pulse but couldn’t find one. She ran to a tow truck nearby to call 911.

The 911 calls helped police get a license plate. Investigators also used the Tesla’s GPS coordinates to find Frasdilla.

Prosecutors showed the jury a video from the Tesla that showed him walking to the car and tossing the murder weapon.

“We are happy to see justice served in this case,” said Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson. “This was a calculated, premeditated murder. It is unconscionable to imagine someone lying in wait for nearly a year to kill a person they argued with.”

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