HALL COUNTY, Ga. — Three teens convicted of shooting and killing a Hall County deputy in 2019 were officially sentenced to serve prison time Thursday afternoon.
A Hall County judge sentenced Hector Garcia-Solis, Eric Edgardo Velazquez, and London Alexander Clements for the murder of Hall County Deputy Nicholas Blane Dixon.
The judge sentenced Solis to serve life without parole, and Clements and Velazquez, are both sentenced to life in prison with the chance of parole.
A jury delivered guilty verdicts last week on the charges in the deadly incident that left the sheriff's deputy dead at the end of a chase.
Garcia-Solis, who was 17 at the time, was found guilty of murder and aggravated assault among his 15 charges. He was convicted on all of them.
Garcia-Solis admitted to shooting Dixon that summer night in 2019 in dramatic testimony last Wednesday, which was the seventh day of the trial for Dixon's murder, saying on the stand: "It was me."
Clements and Velazquez were found guilty of murder as parties to the crime.
Velazquez faced 14 counts and was convicted on all of them. Clements was convicted on two charges.
Late in the evening that Sunday in July 2019, Dixon tried to stop a stolen vehicle that was thought to be connected to the burglaries.
The car they were chasing crashed near the intersection of Jesse Jewell Parkway and Highland Avenue in Gainesville. Authorities said several suspects ran and deputies chased them.
The chase ended in a shootout, and Dixon was killed.
Several teens were arrested in connection to the case days later, with Garcia-Solis, Clements, and Velazquez eventually coming to trial. The defense tried to argue not all the teens deserved to be charged in this case.
