Man accused of killing 63-year-old neighbor sentenced to life in prison
A Fayetteville man was sentenced to life in prison after a jury convicted him of killing his 63-year-old neighbor last year, according to the Griffin Judicial Circuit’s District Attorney’s Office.
A judge sentenced Shanard Rease to life without the possibility of parole in the death of Mimi Perry, who was found strangled to death in the backyard of her home.
Rease was charged with felony murder and aggravated assault after Perry’s body was discovered May 24.
The woman was found naked behind a townhome on Bay Branch Boulevard off Ga. 54, AJC.com previously reported. Investigators determined the death was a homicide and an autopsy revealed that the cause of death was strangulation, the district attorney said.
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Rease lived in the home next door to Perry, the district attorney said. Prosecutors said he gave “inconsistent stories regarding his whereabouts during the time period” of Perry’s murder.
“He also had injuries to his arms and gave inconsistent accounts of how he obtained them,” the DA said.
Investigators matched DNA taken from underneath Perry’s fingernails to Rease, the district attorney said.
Rease has served two stints in prison since 1999, totaling about 13 years behind bars, according to Georgia Department of Corrections records. He was last released from prison in March 2018 after an aggravated assault conviction in Putnam County.
Police confirmed to Channel 2 Action News that he was out of prison on parole during the time of the homicide.
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About the Author
Asia Simone Burns is a watchdog reporter for the AJC. Burns was formerly an intern in AJC’s newsroom and now writes about crime. She is a graduate of Samford University and has previously reported for NPR and WABE, Atlanta’s NPR member station.
