Damia Mitchell will be imprisoned for the next 140 years. A jury convicted her guilty earlier this month of a dozen offenses, including voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, and gang-related charges.
It's all connected to a fight in February 2021 that resulted in a fatal shooting. The incident happened on Mountain Ash Court in Dacula, according to investigators. Mitchell, who was 17 at the time, was accused of killing of Faith Burns, a 20-year-old woman.
Atlanta Teen Sentenced to 140 Years in Prison
Mitchell was allegedly involved with the Nine Trey Gangster Bloods, a violent street gang with a long history in the Atlanta region, and she was aiming to enhance her rank within the group, according to court filings.
Mitchell's family, on the other hand, contends that the trial was rushed and that the prosecution failed to present enough evidence. Mitchell and another victim included in the indictment split up, according to Jackson, and Burns was the victim's new girlfriend.
When Mitchell went to get her belongings, however, a dispute erupted and resulted in death. She was charged in August 2021 and convicted over a year later. Mitchell was given multiple sentences totaling 140 years in jail by a court, as per 11aLive.
According to Thaddeus Johnson, a criminal justice scholar at Georgia State University, young women who break what he refers to as traditional gender standards experience harsher sanctions than young men.
The four other defendants in the case have pled guilty and will be sentenced at a later date, according to Gwinnett County court authorities. Mitchell's family is determined to get her conviction reversed and a new trial held, and they will pursue every legal option available to them.
Mitchell's acts, according to prosecutors, were also gang-related. She was accompanied by four other women who took part in the shooting. According to the Gwinnett County District Attorney, they have also been charged but have yet to go to trial. Mitchell's family was outraged and pushed back when a court sentenced her to 140 years in jail on Monday.
Suspect's Family Expresses Outrage Over Jury's Decision
Vanissa Jackson, Mitchell's mother, told WSB-TV in Atlanta that Mitchell had no past criminal history and that the gunshot that killed Burns was carried out by someone else.
The gang-related crimes accounted for almost 80 percent of her sentence. Mitchell's aunt, Lena Hall, expressed concern about how such a sentence might wreck her niece's life. While presenting their case against Mitchell, police and prosecutors depicted her as someone with significant ties to local street gangs.
This included displaying messages and videos purporting to reveal her ties to violent groups and a history of coordinating street brawls. Mitchell's family organized a rally outside the county courtroom on Tuesday to protest her punishment.
In a statement to Newsweek, the Gwinnett County District Attorney's Office said, "The Defendant was found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by a jury. Our heartfelt sympathies to Faith Burns' family on her untimely death at the hands of the Defendant; the entire incident was put in motion by the Defendant's conduct, and she has been held accountable."
Participation in criminal gang activities in Georgia entails a minimum five-year sentence and a maximum of fifteen years in prison. A fine of $10,000 to $15,000 may also be imposed as part of the penalty.
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