After leaving work one night in 2019, Sukkee Hong made the drive home, unaware that a tracking device had just been placed on his vehicle by several gang members.
They had been staking out his DeKalb County business to rob it, prosecutors said. By the time the 55-year-old made it home to Gwinnett County, he was ambushed and fatally shot inside his garage by at least two men, their faces covered by red bandanas.
As he lay dying, Hong’s cellphone and some documents were taken by the suspects before they fled the scene.
Six years later, two members of the “Goodfellas” criminal street gang were convicted in Hong’s killing.
Daquan Rashad Clarke, 37, and Troy Anthony Hunt, 44, were each found guilty of murder and other charges Friday in the death of Hong, who owned TME Check Cashing in Lithonia, according to the Gwinnett District Attorney’s Office.
The business was one of several that Clarke, Hunt, Ian Jabar Longshore and another gang member had intended to rob, the DA’s office said. So prosecutors said a tracker was placed on Hong’s car, which they pursued to his home on Kendrix Ridge Drive in Sugar Hill on Oct. 4, 2019.
Hunt and the fourth unidentified member then followed Hong into his garage, while Clarke and Longshore waited in separate getaway cars, prosecutors said.
“Video surveillance played during trial showed the two men, their faces covered by red bandanas, flee the garage after gunfire was heard,” the DA’s office said. “Mobile phone data collected by investigators put Clarke, Longshore and Hunt in the area of Hong’s home at the time of the shooting.”
Hong was taken to the hospital, where he died, police said. According to prosecutors, DNA collected at the scene matched up with the suspects.
“We stand with the family and loved ones of Mr. Sukkee Hong and continue to grieve his loss,” DA Patsy Austin-Gatson said in a statement.
During the trial, Clarke’s girlfriend, Subriccia Moss, testified to purchasing the tracking device for Clarke, who placed it on the vehicle while Moss distracted the owner inside his business, the DA’s office said. She also admitted to serving as a lookout on the day of the killing, “giving Clarke’s crew information on when Hong departed the store,” prosecutors said.
After pleading guilty to armed robbery and aggravated assault, Moss was sentenced to 15 years in prison and five years of probation before the trial. On Sept. 6, 2021, Longshore died of a drug overdose while he was in the Gwinnett jail. The fourth suspect has not been located, the DA’s office said.
On Friday, Clarke and Hunt were each found guilty of two counts of murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery and four counts of violation of Georgia’s Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act. Hunt was also convicted of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
They will be sentenced at a later date.
“We thank the jury for returning a verdict which gives Mr. Hong’s family justice,” Austin-Gatson said. “Violent gang activity is unacceptable in Gwinnett County, and we will always hold those who commit crimes like these accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
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