DeKalb County District Attorney
10/04/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/04/2024 15:12
DECATUR MAN SENTENCED TO LIFE FOR MURDER OF 19 YEAR OLD EX GIRLFRIEND
October 4, 2024
State v. Deeron Hicks
Decatur, Ga.- DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announces a conviction by jury trial in the case against a Decatur man for the murder of his ex-girlfriend.
On Thursday, jurors found Deeron Hicks, 25, guilty on charges of Malice Murder, Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, in connection with the murder of Ja'Nautica Whitehead, 19, on November 25, 2022.
According to the investigation, on November 26, 2022, officers with the DeKalb County Police Department (DKPD) responded to a call of a vehicle parked in a wooded area off Snapfinger Parkway with a woman's body inside. When police arrived, they discovered Whitehead with gunshot wounds to the head.
Investigators learned that when Whitehead enrolled in college and attempted to distance herself from her high school boyfriend, Defendant Hicks, he became increasingly violent and controlling. In the months before her murder, Hicks repeatedly hit and strangled Whitehead, and threatened her with a firearm. Just two weeks before murdering her, Defendant Hicks showed up at the Waffle House where she worked, lured her to the parking lot, strangled her, and chased her with a gun.
On November 25, cell phone records show Defendant Hicks followed Whitehead on her way to work and called her multiple times before she pulled over. Defendant Hicks shot Whitehead twice in the head, at close range.
Defendant Hicks was taken into custody on December 17, 2022 without incident.
Immediately following the guilty verdicts, Judge Desiree Sutton Peagler who presided over the trial sitting for the DeKalb County Superior Court, sentenced Defendant Hicks to Life in Prison, plus 5 years.
The case, assigned to the Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Unit, was prosecuted by Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Nicole Finnie, with assistance from Senior Assistant District Attorney Ashley Johnson, District Attorney Investigator Jann Polanco, and Victim Advocate Ashley King. DKPD Det. D.D. Evans led the initial investigation.
State v. Deeron Hicks
Decatur, Ga.- DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announces a conviction by jury trial in the case against a Decatur man for the murder of his ex-girlfriend.
On Thursday, jurors found Deeron Hicks, 25, guilty on charges of Malice Murder, Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, in connection with the murder of Ja'Nautica Whitehead, 19, on November 25, 2022.
According to the investigation, on November 26, 2022, officers with the DeKalb County Police Department (DKPD) responded to a call of a vehicle parked in a wooded area off Snapfinger Parkway with a woman's body inside. When police arrived, they discovered Whitehead with gunshot wounds to the head.
Investigators learned that when Whitehead enrolled in college and attempted to distance herself from her high school boyfriend, Defendant Hicks, he became increasingly violent and controlling. In the months before her murder, Hicks repeatedly hit and strangled Whitehead, and threatened her with a firearm. Just two weeks before murdering her, Defendant Hicks showed up at the Waffle House where she worked, lured her to the parking lot, strangled her, and chased her with a gun.
On November 25, cell phone records show Defendant Hicks followed Whitehead on her way to work and called her multiple times before she pulled over. Defendant Hicks shot Whitehead twice in the head, at close range.
Defendant Hicks was taken into custody on December 17, 2022 without incident.
Immediately following the guilty verdicts, Judge Desiree Sutton Peagler who presided over the trial sitting for the DeKalb County Superior Court, sentenced Defendant Hicks to Life in Prison, plus 5 years.
The case, assigned to the Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Unit, was prosecuted by Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Nicole Finnie, with assistance from Senior Assistant District Attorney Ashley Johnson, District Attorney Investigator Jann Polanco, and Victim Advocate Ashley King. DKPD Det. D.D. Evans led the initial investigation.