(Update 06/06/2024) - Neil Patrick Frasdilla, who was convicted of murder and other charges in the shooting death of Darius Dugger, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 25 years.

(Lawrenceville, GA., May 23,2024) – A Gwinnett County jury found a Lawrenceville man guilty of shooting and killing a man he’d had an argument with a year before the deadly incident.

Neil Patrick Frasdilla, 27, was convicted of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony for the Sept. 13, 2023, death of 46-year-old Darius Dugger.

“We are happy to see justice served in this case,” said Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson. “This was a calculated, premeditated murder. It is unconscionable to imagine someone lying in wait for nearly a year to kill a person they argued with.”

A sentencing hearing will be held on May 28.

Sometime in 2022, Frasdilla’s then girlfriend came to the home of Dugger and his fiancé to inform them that she was being abused by her boyfriend. After showing injuries to the couple, Dugger confronted Frasdilla the next time he came to the girlfriend’s Lawrenceville home, telling Frasdilla to leave. Frasdilla refused to leave and retrieved a gun from his car. Another neighbor was able to pry the gun from Frasdilla’s hand, and Frasdilla and Dugger physically fought. The fight was broken up, and the men talked things out, seemingly resolving the issue.

On Sept. 13, 2023, Frasdilla rented a grey Tesla, and drove it to the neighborhood near where Dugger lived. Frasdilla followed Dugger as he drove with his fiancé and 4-year-old child to a restaurant at Mall Corners in Duluth. When Dugger parked behind the Red Lobster, Frasdilla pulled up next to the driver’s side and fired shots into Dugger’s truck, fatally striking Dugger. As gunfire hailed into Dugger’s vehicle, one shot also struck the passenger side mirror of the Tesla, leaving the mirror cover on the ground along with three shell casings.

A witness came to help the woman and child in the vehicle as Frasdilla sped away. Calls to 911 from multiple witnesses provided the license plate number for the vehicle, and police were able to use area surveillance cameras as well as the Tesla’s GPS coordinates from the car rental agency to track Frasdilla within an hour.

GPS tracking also helped investigators find where Frasdilla stopped near a wooded area to toss the murder weapon, and the rental car’s built-in camera would later show him walking to the car and moving the same khaki-colored handgun from his sweatshirt pocket to his pants pocket. The GBI crime lab was able to match the bullet that killed Dugger to that handgun.

Assistant District Attorneys Nam Nguyen and Chris Lewis prosecuted the case for the Gwinnett DA’s Office.