On the night of June 17, 1979, 35-year-old Roger Dennis Tackett was finishing his shift as manager of a Tenneco convenience store in Cobb County, Georgia. After doing paperwork he took a loaf of bread, leaving a note and money on the counter to cover it. As he was locking the store door he was confronted by two armed men who demanded money; Tackett was unable to open the store safe.

The two assailants, identified as Van Roosevelt Solomon and Brandon Astor Jones, shot Tackett multiple times, wounding his thumb, hip, and head. He died on the floor of the storeroom. A Cobb County police officer who happened to be outside the store at the time was dropping off a stranded motorist and the presence of law enforcement led to the immediate arrest of both men. Gunpowder residue was found on both of their hands, and each blamed the other for firing the fatal shots.

Both Solomon and Jones were tried and convicted for Tackett’s murder; Solomon was executed by electrocution and Jones was later executed by lethal injection. If anyone knew Roger Tackett or was in that area on June 17, 1979, information could still be important.