On a crisp February afternoon, a simple meeting between acquaintances erupted into deadly violence outside a townhouse in Stone Mountain. By the end of the confrontation, Aquandis Foston, 22, lay bleeding from a single gunshot wound to the chest, and a young man’s jealousy had turned deadly.
Now, nearly three years later, Isaac Thompson, 24, has been convicted of murder in a case that reveals how jealousy, manipulation, and a lethal confrontation unraveled on a quiet neighborhood street.
The Setup
It was supposed to be an ordinary day. Text messages flew back and forth between Foston and a young woman named Makayla Bolston, who had invited him to meet her at her townhouse on Wells Circle. The two had been in contact before, but Bolston was already romantically involved—with Isaac Thompson. And it was Thompson, gripped by suspicion and jealousy, who would later become a central figure in what prosecutors would call a fatal “setup.”
The messages, which surfaced during the investigation, told a haunting story. Bolston reached out to Foston, asking him to come over, but when he arrived, he didn’t find a warm welcome.
Instead, he was met by Thompson, Bolston’s boyfriend, who was waiting outside with an unidentified man. The confrontation was tense from the start. Words flew between Thompson and Foston as Thompson demanded that Foston leave. Foston, however, refused, insisting he would stay until he could speak with Bolston herself.
The Confrontation Turns Deadly
As the argument escalated, Thompson’s jealousy came to a head. He pulled a gun, leveling it at Foston. Witnesses reported a single gunshot ringing out, a shot that struck Foston in the chest.. As Foston’s life slipped away, Thompson fled the scene, leaving his rival to die.
Police arrived within minutes to find Foston unresponsive. Paramedics tried to revive him, but it was too late.
The investigation into his death quickly honed in on the love triangle involving Thompson, Bolston, and Foston—a relationship that had just claimed a life.
The Trial Unfolds
Nearly three years after that fateful February afternoon, Thompson faced trial for Foston’s murder. In the DeKalb County courtroom, prosecutors pieced together a story of jealousy and manipulation, arguing that Thompson, unable to tolerate another man’s interest in his girlfriend, acted with deadly intent. The jury heard testimony about the messages Bolston sent to Foston and how the meeting was likely a setup.
Senior assistant district attorneys Andrew Turner and Helen Pott presented witness accounts, forensic evidence, and phone records that painted a chilling picture. Thompson’s jealousy, they argued, drove him to kill Foston, and Bolston’s texts were allegedly part of a lure that drew Foston into a confrontation he would not survive.
After a short deliberation, the jury returned with a verdict: guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Judge Yolanda Parker-Smith, who presided over the trial, handed down a life sentence without the possibility of parole, plus an additional five years for the firearms charge.
A Continuing Legal Saga
Yet even with Thompson convicted, the story isn’t over. Bolston, who prosecutors say helped orchestrate the meeting with Foston, is now awaiting her own day in court. She faces charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Prosecutors say Bolston, fully aware of Thompson’s jealousy, used her connection to Foston to lure him into the fatal encounter, knowing it would provoke her boyfriend’s ire.
Go Deeper
B.T. Clark
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist with 25-years experience in journalism. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is the publisher of The Georgia Sun and a fifth-generation Georgian.
