Latest news with #FaniWillis
The Independent
11-07-2025
- The Independent
Atlanta man gets more than 150 years in prison for starving daughter and abusing other children
An Atlanta man accused of killing his 4-year-old daughter by denying her food and water has been sentenced to more than 150 years in prison after being convicted of murder, kidnapping and other charges, prosecutors said. Rodney McWeay, 33, was sentenced Thursday in Treasure McWeay's death. He was also convicted of other counts stemming from the abuse of his two other children, who are 3 and 4, authorities said. 'Treasure suffered from hunger, thirst and neglect at the hands of her father, who used violence and control to keep her and her brothers from the help they needed,' Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said in a statement. McWeay was arrested in December 2023 after Treasure was pronounced dead at an Atlanta hospital. Police warrants stated that she was extremely malnourished and 'her face appeared to be sunken in around the eyes and cheekbones,' The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. An autopsy found that she weighed only 24 pounds. McWeay did not have custody of any of his children at the time, authorities said. About five months before Treasure died, he had kidnapped them from their mother's home in Maryland and prevented Georgia child protection workers from speaking to them, the Journal-Constitution reported.
CTV News
11-07-2025
- CTV News
Atlanta man gets more than 150 years in prison for starving daughter and abusing other children
The midtown skyline and interstate highway system as it merges into downtown Atlanta in the late evening. Viewable are great light trails from the traffic on the highways, Georgia Tech University, and various midtown skyscrapers. ATLANTA — An Atlanta man accused of killing his four-year-old daughter by denying her food and water has been sentenced to more than 150 years in prison after being convicted of murder, kidnapping and other charges, prosecutors said. Rodney McWeay, 33, was sentenced Thursday in Treasure McWeay's death. He was also convicted of other counts stemming from the abuse of his two other children, who are three and four, authorities said. 'Treasure suffered from hunger, thirst and neglect at the hands of her father, who used violence and control to keep her and her brothers from the help they needed,' Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said in a statement. McWeay was arrested in Dec. 2023 after Treasure was pronounced dead at an Atlanta hospital. Police warrants stated that she was extremely malnourished and 'her face appeared to be sunken in around the eyes and cheekbones,' The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. An autopsy found that she weighed only 24 pounds. McWeay did not have custody of any of his children at the time, authorities said. About five months before Treasure died, he had kidnapped them from their mother's home in Maryland and prevented Georgia child protection workers from speaking to them, the Journal-Constitution reported. The Associated Press
Associated Press
11-07-2025
- Associated Press
Atlanta man gets more than 150 years in prison for starving daughter and abusing other children
ATLANTA (AP) — An Atlanta man accused of killing his 4-year-old daughter by denying her food and water has been sentenced to more than 150 years in prison after being convicted of murder, kidnapping and other charges, prosecutors said. Rodney McWeay, 33, was sentenced Thursday in Treasure McWeay's death. He was also convicted of other counts stemming from the abuse of his two other children, who are 3 and 4, authorities said. 'Treasure suffered from hunger, thirst and neglect at the hands of her father, who used violence and control to keep her and her brothers from the help they needed,' Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said in a statement. McWeay was arrested in December 2023 after Treasure was pronounced dead at an Atlanta hospital. Police warrants stated that she was extremely malnourished and 'her face appeared to be sunken in around the eyes and cheekbones,' The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. An autopsy found that she weighed only 24 pounds. McWeay did not have custody of any of his children at the time, authorities said. About five months before Treasure died, he had kidnapped them from their mother's home in Maryland and prevented Georgia child protection workers from speaking to them, the Journal-Constitution reported.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Georgia lieutenant governor launches bid to succeed Kemp
Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (R) launched his much-anticipated campaign for governor Tuesday, making him the second major Republican to make a run for term-limited Gov. Brian Kemp's (R) job. 'Lt. Gov. Burt Jones has brought real conservative leadership that has protected our freedoms, our values and our families, and Burt Jones has worked closely with President Trump, helping Georgia make America great again,' says a narrator in the more than two-minute ad Jones posted to announce his bid. Jones said in the ad that his campaign priorities would be eliminating the state income tax, ending the fentanyl crisis and making sure transgender women aren't allowed to play in women's sports leagues. 'And if anyone doesn't like that, they can move to California,' Jones says in the ad. Jones joins Attorney General Chris Carr in vying for the GOP nod for the governor's race next year. The first-term lieutenant governor and former state senator is a Trump ally who was among a slate of more than a dozen fake electors in 2020 that sought to certify Trump as the winner in the Peach State, looking to overturn former President Biden's win. Fulton County District Attorney General Fani Willis (D), who initially investigated Trump and Republicans' efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state, was disqualified from investigating Jones, given her involvement fundraising for Jones's 2022 Democratic challenger, Charlie Bailey. Jones ultimately was not charged from the probe. Jones will be vying for the president's endorsement, though Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) also could run — potentially pitting two Trump allies against each other. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger could also make a run for the seat or run for Senate instead, opening the door to a potentially crowded field next year. Democrats have yet to coalesce around a candidate. Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, state Sen. Jason Esteves, state Rep. Derrick Jackson and former pastor Olu Brown have all launched bids for the seat. Yet, that field could also be joined by two-time gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams or former GOP Lt. Gov. George Duncan, who's been vocally critical of Trump. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Yahoo
Fani Willis Responds to Critics after YSL Trial Ends with Zero Murder Convictions
After coming under fire for not securing any murder convictions in the YSL RICO case, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis stood her ground on the overall effectiveness of her team on Thursday. 'Crime is down,' Willis said during an interview with 11Alive in the lobby of Atlanta City Hall. 'What my constituents say, who just voted [for] me by 68%, is, 'She's doing an amazing job.'' Her answer was in response to being questioned directly about her team's inability to secure murder convictions for any of the eight defendants who were charged with murder in the sprawling racketeering case that began three years ago. Read More: After Fani Willis Drops YSL Murder Charge, Defendant Is Sentenced to 5 Years Demise McMullen, the final defendant facing a murder charge, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in court Thursday. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop the murder charges against him. McMullen is the seventh out of eight to plead guilty to a lesser charge. Last week, Damekion Garlington was sentenced to five years in prison by a Fulton County Superior Court judge. He was originally facing life in prison if convicted on all charges — including murder and attempted murder — but he entered into an Alford plea with the district attorney's office. An Alford plea allows a defendant to maintain their innocence while admitting the prosecution likely has enough evidence to secure a conviction. In exchange for prosecutors agreeing to downgrade the murder charge to aggravated assault and drop the attempted murder charge, the 29-year-old pleaded guilty. Garlington had been Willis' last hope to hold one of the four people charged with the 2022 murder of Shymel Drinks accountable. Drinks was central to the prosecution's argument that Atlanta rapper Young Thug and 27 others were members of a criminal street gang called YSL. Last year, Willis' team dropped murder charges against Miles Farley and Quamarvious Nichols, two of the three other defendants charged with Drinks' murder, in exchange for guilty pleas on lesser charges. The third, Shannon Stillwell, was found not guilty in early December. Critics had honed in on the resources and manpower spent to prosecute this one case throughout the trial, which only exacerbated the issues with the case backlog that began during the 2020 pandemic. 'My message to taxpayers is, it was an amazing time. We had 19 convictions. The community is safer. We made sure that we got the resolutions we want. If they're unhappy with sentencing, they should elect other judges,' Willis said. Despite the district attorney's office asking for 20-year sentences to be served, the majority of defendants were sentenced to just a few years in jail and 10 to 15 years on probation. Willis, however, maintains that the case was a success, and pointed out that seven of the people she declined to prosecute are already serving life sentences after being convicted of other crimes. Read More: State NAACP Calls for Appeal in Fatal Atlanta Police Shooting After Judge Drops Charges Over the past few years, Willis has faced praise and criticism for her aggressive use of Georgia's RICO law, which she also employed to prosecute President Donald Trump and his associates on allegations of attempting to interfere in the 2020 presidential election. With the Trump trial on hold until 2029, and the YSL case likely to conclude with all convictions coming from guilty pleas instead of guilty verdicts, Willis' most successful RICO case remains the Atlanta cheating scandal trial. Until it was usurped by YSL proceedings, the trial against Atlanta Public Schools' teachers and administrators was the longest trial in Georgia history and ended with 34 convictions for Willis, then an assistant district attorney. She secured 12 guilty pleas and 11 guilty verdicts. The post Fani Willis Responds to Critics after YSL Trial Ends with Zero Murder Convictions appeared first on Capital B News - Atlanta.
