Stone Mountain Man Sentenced to Two Life Terms for Murdering His Boss

A Stone Mountain man has been sentenced to serve two life terms plus an additional five years in prison after being convicted of murdering his boss in 2023. Yamir Paul Thomas, 23, was found guilty on Thursday, March 27, 2025, of Malice Murder, two counts of Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony in connection with the death of 57-year-old Donald Crenshaw.

DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Gregory A. Adams handed down the sentence on Thursday, April 3, 2025.

The investigation revealed that on the morning of September 5, 2023, police responded to a shooting at a home in Lithonia and found Donald Crenshaw dead. Crenshaw’s roommate reported that Crenshaw’s vehicle was missing. Doorbell surveillance footage showed Thomas and Crenshaw arriving at the residence together the previous night. Later footage captured Thomas leaving the house with a handgun and then returning to leave again with Crenshaw’s wallet.

Crenshaw’s missing Volvo was found the next day near Thomas’s residence, with Thomas’s fingerprint on the driver’s side door. Investigators learned that Thomas worked for Crenshaw at Church’s Chicken and that the two had argued on the afternoon of the murder.

Thomas was arrested on December 11, 2023. A search of his phone revealed searches for sentencing ranges for murder and inquiries about job prospects for fugitives. In an interview with detectives, Thomas admitted to shooting Crenshaw but claimed self-defense.

The case was prosecuted by the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office Homicide and Gangs Unit.