Felix Cosme Jr., 63, was shot and killed inside an O’Reilly Auto Parts on Hamilton Mill Road in Buford on the night of January 8, 2020. A retired Gwinnett County sheriff’s deputy who continued working in civilian life, Cosme moved from the back of the store after a female employee alerted him that a man who had been sitting in a vehicle had followed her inside and demanded she open the cash drawer. Before he could stop the threat, the gunman shot him; the robber then fled toward Interstate 85.

Investigators linked the Buford robbery and killing to a string of armed robberies at auto parts stores across Gwinnett County and metro Atlanta. Surveillance work pointed to a Volkswagen Jetta and to two men, identified as Prince Robertson and Tavares Norah. On June 1, 2020, agents observed the same pair commit another armed robbery at an AutoZone in Dacula; a crash and overnight manhunt followed. Both men were later arrested and tied to the O’Reilly homicide and numerous other robberies.

Prosecutors said Robertson was the shooter and Norah the getaway driver in the January 8 incident. The broader investigation connected the pair to 15 armed robberies and produced dozens of felony warrants. If anyone knew Felix Cosme Jr., his routine, or was at the store that night, please share what was seen or heard.