Detective: MySpace key in fatal drug deal

Saturday, February 21, 2009
© Copyright 2013 Gwinnett Daily Post

LAWRENCEVILLE - A Lawrenceville boy used MySpace to propose a marijuana deal that ended in a man's death two days before Christmas, a Gwinnett police detective testified Friday.

Francelis Dorce, 15, reportedly contacted the eventual murder victim, Robert Morales, 27, of Loganville, via the popular networking site to orchestrate an armed robbery disguised as a drug deal.

Dorce was friends with two teens he allegedly appointed to carry out the dirty work of robbing Morales and a friend in an under-construction Grayson subdivision, said Gwinnett police Detective Brad Everson.

When the teens brandished guns, Morales fought back and was fatally shot once in the chest, Everson testified Friday at a probable cause hearing for the alleged shooter, Zachary David Bivens, 17, of Grayson.

Everson said fingerprints and shoe prints tie Bivens to the Hillside Drive murder scene, along with eyewitness accounts. Bivens inadvertently shot his alleged accomplice, Omar Falay, 17, in the tussle, but he survived. Both suspects remain in the Gwinnett County Jail on murder charges.

Falay and the surviving robbery victim have identified Bivens as the shooter, Everson said.

Bivens, who possessed several bags of marijuana upon his arrest, faces additional counts of drug possession, Everson said. A judge bound murder charges against him Friday to Gwinnett Superior Court for a possible indictment.

As for the 15-year-old, Dorce, he faces armed robbery charges and remains at the Regional Youth Detention Center. He will be prosecuted as an adult.

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