A Fulton County murder case is putting a spotlight on something every small business owner fears: being watched, targeted, and ambushed after leaving the bank.
According to a report from WSB-TV and a summary shared by Crime-Watch Atlanta, prosecutors say 9-year-old boy watched his father, 36-year-old business owner Eddy Leonardo, get shot and killed outside his own check-cashing business in Roswell – moments after they returned from a DeKalb County bank.
The man convicted of pulling the trigger, five-time convicted felon Manvel Britton, has now been sentenced to life in prison without parole plus 15 years.
Prosecutors say he didn’t just stumble onto a victim – he followed Leonardo from the bank, allegedly tipped off by a security guard who noticed the cash.
Followed From the Bank
WSB-TV reports that the case began when Leonardo left a DeKalb County bank with a large amount of cash for his check-cashing business, with his young son riding along.
According to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, Britton was in the passenger seat of a Dodge Charger that followed Leonardo’s vehicle from the bank to his business in Roswell.
There, prosecutors say, Britton got out of the Charger, approached Leonardo, and demanded that he drop the money he was carrying.
Leonardo refused.
Senior Assistant District Attorney Stacey Burke and lead prosecutor Jeffrey Hawkins told the station that a physical struggle broke out in front of the business. In that struggle, Britton shot Leonardo once — a shot Leonardo’s 9-year-old son saw with his own eyes.
It’s hard to even process what that means for a child. A bank errand with dad turns into the worst memory of his life, right outside the place that was supposed to feed their family. That’s the kind of trauma that doesn’t go away just because a case file gets closed.
The Security Guard’s Alleged Tip
The part of this story that really shakes people is what prosecutors say happened before the ambush.
According to WSB-TV’s report, investigators believe a bank security guard spotted that Leonardo was leaving with a large amount of cash.
Instead of simply doing his job and protecting everyone on site, that guard is accused of alerting a “mutual friend” that Leonardo had left with money. That information allegedly made its way to Britton and the getaway driver, who then tailed Leonardo from DeKalb County into Fulton County.
That’s not just a security failure — it’s a total betrayal of what that job is supposed to be. People go into a bank trusting that the guard is there to deter criminals, not feed them information.
Right now, the guard is described in the WSB-TV report as “accused” of tipping off the robbers, not convicted. But even at the allegation level, it sends a chill through anyone who regularly handles cash. It’s one thing to worry about strangers watching you. It’s another to worry about the person in uniform.
How Investigators Put the Case Together
Despite the speed of the attack, police and prosecutors say the case against Britton came together piece by piece.
WSB-TV’s report notes that a good Samaritan at the scene snapped a photo of the Dodge Charger before it fled. That picture became one of the key starting points for detectives. With that image, investigators could start tying a specific car to a specific moment in time.
From there, Fulton County prosecutors say they used surveillance video, fingerprints, and cellphone records to link Britton to the shooting. Phone data helped place him in the right place at the right time; forensic work tied him to the getaway vehicle and the robbery sequence.
The Georgia Supreme Court had already weighed in on an earlier pretrial fight over Britton’s cellphone records, ruling in 2023 that the warrant for those records was valid and sending the case back for trial.
In other words, the digital trail mattered. Without that combination of bystander action, surveillance, and technical evidence, this could easily have become another unsolved “robbery gone wrong.”
Inside the Courtroom: A Child’s Testimony
According to the WSB-TV report, the state relied not only on video and forensics but also on witness testimony – including from Leonardo’s young son.
Senior ADA Stacey Burke and prosecutor Jeffrey Hawkins told the station that the child testified about what he saw when Britton confronted his father.
That’s a brutal ask of any kid, but in a case like this, his words were critical in confirming the sequence of events: the demand for money, the struggle, and the gunshot that ended his father’s life.
Leonardo’s widow, Linsy Natareno-Arreaga, spoke to Channel 2’s Mark Winne through an interpreter after the verdict. She said, “I thank God that finally justice has been served.” For a family that’s been living with grief since 2020, the conviction didn’t bring their husband and father back – but it did bring some relief that the person responsible was finally held to account.
There’s something deeply human in that detail: justice doesn’t erase pain, but it can make it feel like the world isn’t completely ignoring it.
Life Without Parole – And A Small Smile
Prosecutors say Britton is no stranger to the criminal justice system. WSB-TV reports that he is a five-time convicted felon, and in this case he received a sentence of life without the possibility of parole plus fifteen years.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis highlighted one moment from the sentencing that stood out. According to the WSB-TV report, she said Leonardo’s son “smiled for the first time” when the jury found Britton responsible for his father’s murder.
That’s a heartbreaking detail and a hopeful one at the same time. A child should be smiling about school, sports, or birthdays – not because the person who killed his dad is going to prison forever. But it shows how much weight these cases carry for victims’ families.
The verdict isn’t abstract to them; it’s part of whether they feel safe enough to start living again.
At the same time, the report notes that Britton’s case is still winding through post-trial litigation, including a motion for a new trial. That’s standard in serious felony cases, and it doesn’t erase the jury’s verdict, but it does mean the legal chapter isn’t totally closed yet.
What This Case Says About Targeting And Trust
Beyond the individual tragedy, this case is a warning about how modern robberies work.
According to the WSB-TV and Crime-Watch Atlanta accounts, Leonardo did what countless small business owners do every week: go to the bank, get cash to run the business, go back to work. Somewhere between that parking lot and his storefront, someone turned him into a target.
We’ve seen this pattern before in other cities – criminals waiting in or near banks, following customers they think are carrying cash, then striking in a quieter location. What’s especially disturbing here is the allegation that someone inside the bank may have helped choose the victim.
From a practical standpoint, this is a reminder to be extra cautious with bank runs: vary routes and times, avoid obvious cash bags, and be aware of anyone who seems to be shadowing you. None of that guarantees safety, but it at least makes you a harder target.
From an ethical standpoint, it’s a reminder that trust is fragile. If the accusations about the security guard hold up, it means the badge and uniform were used to enable a killing instead of prevent it. That kind of betrayal makes everyone a little more suspicious the next time they walk into a bank lobby.
Justice, But Not Closure
WSB-TV’s reporting makes clear that Leonardo’s family is grateful for the work of investigators and prosecutors who refused to let the case go cold. The combination of citizen action, digital evidence, and courtroom testimony ultimately pinned responsibility on Britton and led to a life-without-parole sentence.
But no sentence can rewind that day in Roswell or erase what Leonardo’s son saw. The child still lives with the memory of his father being gunned down right in front of him. His mother still has to explain why dad never came back home from a routine business errand.
If there’s any small comfort here, it’s that the system – slowly, painfully – did what it was supposed to do.
The shooter was identified. The evidence held up. A jury believed the state’s case. And a family that had every reason to feel abandoned at least got to see someone held accountable.
The bigger questions linger. How do you stop people from being stalked after leaving the bank? How do you rebuild public trust when someone in a security role is accused of helping set up the crime? And how do you protect kids from being dragged into the center of violence they’ll never forget?
Those are problems no single verdict can solve. But this case, as reported by WSB-TV and echoed in the Fulton County DA’s public statements, is one more reminder that the danger doesn’t always come from the shadows – sometimes it comes from the people who were supposed to be watching the door.
Raised in a small Arizona town, Kevin grew up surrounded by rugged desert landscapes and a family of hunters. His background in competitive shooting and firearms training has made him an authority on self-defense and gun safety. A certified firearms instructor, Kevin teaches others how to properly handle and maintain their weapons, whether for hunting, home defense, or survival situations. His writing focuses on responsible gun ownership, marksmanship, and the role of firearms in personal preparedness.
