Franz charged with 2018 murders: Prosecutors move forward with Moore and Patel case

A 28 year-old Warner Robins man–recently convicted of manslaughter– was indicted Tuesday for two murders and an additional murder attempt.

The Houston County District Attorney’s Office handed down an eight-page indictment charging Daniel Bruce Franz, II with two counts of malice murder and four counts of felony murder for two 2018 shootings.

The first malice murder charge is in connection to the January 2018 slaying of Janak Patel, a store clerk at the Chevron gas station located at 806 Elberta Rd. in Warner Robins. The indictment states that Franz did unlawfully, with malice afterthought, cause the death of Patel by shooting him in the head with a handgun as he was robbing the store.

Franz caught another malice murder charge for a similar incident that took place just eight days after Patel’s murder. According to the indictment, Franz is accused of shooting and killing Parker Moore, an employee at the Barberitos restaurant located at 3123 Watson Blvd. Much like the Chevron incident, Moore was shot in the head. The indictment states that Franz was attempting to rob the restaurant at the time of the murder.

Franz received 10 charges in total including two counts of armed robbery; one aggravated assault charge and one count of criminal attempt to commit a felony-malice murder.

The criminal attempt charge also stems from Jan. 21, 2018, the same date of Moore’s shooting. The indictment lists Jordan Christian as the victim. Franz is alleged to have shot Christian with a handgun, attempting to cause deathly harm to him.

At the time of Moore’s murder, police said a second victim, a 21-year-old male employee, was shot and suffered a wound to the head. Warner Robins Police withheld the employee’s name at that time.

Franz was sentenced in July to 25 years in prison for the death of 28-year-old Vincent Junior. Junior was also shot and killed in January 2018. Franz was charged with voluntary manslaughter and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.