Clayton County Convicted for Bus Stop Attack, Victim’s Head Disfigured

On July 1, 2024, Clayton County District Attorney Tasha M. Mosley announced the conviction of David Alan Cannon by a Clayton County jury on charges of Aggravated Battery and Aggravated Assault.

The trial, which began on June 24, 2024, concluded on June 27, 2024, with the jury deliberating for less than two hours before reaching their verdict. The State presented evidence proving that on February 11, 2020, Cannon maliciously disfigured Demetrius Fosten’s head, his neighbor, whom he wrongly suspected of burglarizing his apartment a week earlier. Despite Fosten’s denial and lack of evidence linking him to the burglary, Cannon targeted him at a neighborhood bus stop, assaulting him with pepper spray and striking him in the head multiple times with a hammer.

Throughout the trial, Cannon asserted self-defense, but the jury found his claim unreasonable given the circumstances. Assistant District Attorney Anyssa Williams led the State’s case, supported by Assistant District Attorney Lacarrian Blount, Investigator Dwayne Harrison, and Victim Advocate Kennedy Smith.

Presiding over the trial, Clayton County Superior Court Judge Aaron B. Mason sentenced Cannon to 20 years, with 12 years to be served in confinement and the remainder probated. District Attorney Mosley remarked, “This conviction is the result of a thorough legal process that has held the defendant accountable for their actions. It is also a reminder that acts of violence and aggression have serious consequences.”

3.5