Get notified by email when this case is updated.
Written by: E. George
Published December 6, 2024 @ 1:55 PM ET
BARTOW COUNTY, Ga. – Two brothers from Smyrna entered guilty pleas in Superior Court and were sentenced for the robbery, assault, and murder of a 19-year-old male in 2023. On May 16, the victim, Caleb Demond Thomas, was shot in the torso, chased, beaten, robbed, and left for dead over Percocet pills.
The brothers, Dristen Owen, who was 15 at the time of the murder, and Dayton Bryan Owen, 19 at the time, reportedly provided Thomas with a ride to obtain the pills from a drug dealer. When Thomas returned to their truck, they ordered him to give them half the pills, but this sparked an argument.
The younger brother, Dristen, confessed to shooting Thomas outside the vehicle with a small-caliber gun. He also admitted to punching him repeatedly and snatching the pills after he and his brother pursued him in the truck and then on foot.
The Owen brothers drove away, and Dristen discarded the firearm and shell casing into a river. Two neighbors witnessed the brutal incident and tried to help Thomas, but he succumbed to his injuries.
The witnesses provided authorities with a description of the offenders and their vehicle. A joint effort involving the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the Smyrna Police Department resulted in the suspects’ identification.
During their investigation, law enforcement utilized cellular phone data, license plate reader images, business and residential surveillance footage, and other leads.
Dristen was charged with aggravated assault, armed robbery, malice murder, and possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony, and Dayton was charged with aggravated assault and armed robbery. Dristen faces a sentence of life in prison with a parole possibility, followed by life plus an additional five years on probation, and Dayton was sentenced to life in prison, with the initial 25 years in detainment and the remainder on probation.
The incident allegedly began when Thomas asked the brothers for transportation from his home to the Parkway Station Apartment complex in Cartersville to pick up the pills. They said yes and accepted money from him for gas, but after the drug deal, they demanded that he hand over half the stash.
Authorities identified the culprits and tracked them to their Smyrna home. The case was prosecuted by District Attorney Erle J. Newton and Assistant District Attorney Joshua S. Wyatt, who offered the suspects plea deals and took Dristen’s voluntary confession into consideration.
Newton stated, “This is a complete waste of life. A 19-year-old was shot and killed, and now a 16 and a 20-year-old will spend much of their lives in prison.”
He continued, “This was all over drugs. Illegal drugs and illegal sales of prescription drugs are at the top of our societal problems. My heart breaks for Mr. Thomas’s family. I am shocked and dismayed that this level of violence was perpetrated by two very young defendants.”
The victim’s family members addressed the court, his father, Reginald Thomas, explaining to the defendants that Dristen’s actions ruined multiple lives, but they still have time to pursue forgiveness.