DECATUR, Ga. — A man accused of killing three men as they slept outside and a woman walking to her car near Atlanta initially set out to rob people but was driven by a bloodlust after killing his first victim, according to a court filing.
Aeman Presley, 34, faces charges including murder in the killings of two homeless men in Atlanta, a man sleeping outside a shopping center in neighboring DeKalb County, and a hairdresser who was heading home after having dinner with friends in a nearby suburb.
The slayings span two counties, and prosecutors in both have said they intend to seek the death penalty.
Presley took a Greyhound bus from Los Angeles to Atlanta in May 2014 ‘‘hoping to rejuvenate his beleaguered acting career,’’ according to a sworn statement by an investigator with the Fulton County district attorney’s office. The statement was made in support of a request for a search warrant to obtain Presley’s cellphone records.
Presley moved into a homeless shelter in Atlanta and took odd jobs at a restaurant and catering company to make money. But as his money began to run out, he sought other ways to earn a living, the statement says.
He bought a gun ‘‘from someone on the street’’ and took a bus to DeKalb County intending to find someone to rob, the statement says.
He saw a man, later identified as 53-year-old Calvin Gholston, sleeping in a breezeway at a shopping center, and instead of trying to rob him, Presley shot him three times, killing him, the statement says.