The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld a Griffin man’s conviction and sentence of life without parole for the 2012 murder of 9-year-old Skylar Dials.
Shane Clifton Collett, a neighbor of the child, appealed his conviction, arguing that the evidence for the murder conviction was weak. He had told various stories about whether or not he knew what happened to Skylar in the hours after her family started looking for her on Dec. 21, 2012. Collett helped in the search. His girlfriend's daughter was friends with Skylar.
After her body was found in a pile of brush behind her home, Collett admitted he'd hurt her, but only accidentally when she startled him by coming into his house while he was sleeping. He said he jumped up and inadvertently knocked her unconscious. He said he moved her to the brush pile, but she was breathing at the time.
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Law enforcement found his story incredible. The girl had scratch marks on her face. Her favorite sweater, a hand-me-down pink and white cardigan, was pulled up near her head. She died of asphyxiation, the medical examiner found. Fibers on her sweater came from Collett’s bedroom.
Collett was convicted of murder and concealing a death in 2015.
Credit: Special
Credit: Special
Justice Nels S.D. Peterson said the court disagreed that the evidence wasn’t sufficient to convict Collett.
A rational person would have “found beyond a reasonable doubt that Collett murdered Dials and concealed her death,” Peterson wrote in the opinion.
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