Two of three people charged with arson in the burning of the Wendy’s restaurant in Atlanta where a police officer fatally shot Rayshard Brooks in June 2020 have pleaded guilty after reaching deals with prosecutors.
Chisom Kingston, Natalie White and John Wade were arrested on arson charges within weeks of the fire, which came in the midst of weeks of upheaval and protest across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s death under the knee of a Minneapolis police office. A Fulton County grand jury in January 2022 indicted the trio on two counts each of first-degree arson and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree arson.
Kingston and White on Thursday pleaded guilty to the charges and each received a sentence of five years of probation, a $500 fine and 150 hours of community service to be completed with a nonprofit organization within the first year of probation, according to online court records. They were each sentenced under Georgia’s first offender law, meaning that if they complete their sentences without violating the terms or committing another crime, their records will be wiped clean.
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