Crime & Safety
Court Upholds Douglasville Man's Murder Conviction, Life Sentence
The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously upheld Matthew Frederick Wilkins' murder conviction and life sentence today after beating his 16-year-old girlfriend to death in 2008.
The Georgia Supreme Court upheld Matthew Frederick Wilkins' murder conviction and life sentence plus 20 years after beating his 16-year-old girlfriend to death in 2008, according to myfoxatlanta.com.
The court's unanimous decision today was made after Wilkins, of Douglasville, was convicted of stabbing and beating his 16-year-old girlfriend to death in suburban Atlanta in January of 2008.
Marlisa Wells was killed after telling Wilkins that she was pregnant and wanted to keep the baby, according to the report. An autopsy revealed she wasn't actually pregnant.
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In 2010, Cobb County Superior Court Judge Tain Kell described the murder as “gruesome” and “brutal.”
According to the report, authorities said Wilkins "cornered his girlfriend in a basement bathroom, where he stabbed her repeatedly, slammed her head into a toilet tank and drove a fork into her back."
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