A 24-year-old who killed a woman last summer in retaliation for his girlfriend being shot was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Markel Woods pleaded guilty to murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in connection with the June 29 killing of 57-year-old Heidi Cooper, who was shot in the chest three times outside a Greyhound station.
Atlanta police said Cooper’s shooting death was retaliation for her son, Earl Wade, shooting Woods’ girlfriend just over an hour earlier at a convenience store across Forsyth Street.
It was one of three shootings reported along Forsyth Street that night in a span of about three hours.
Investigators said Woods and his girlfriend Yolanda Hughes encountered Wade at the store and an argument ensued, prompting Wade to fire a .380-caliber handgun at the two, striking Hodges in the leg.
Woods stayed behind after his girlfriend was taken to the hospital and is seen on surveillance footage approaching Wade and his mother at the Greyhound station at 3:47 a.m. and firing three shots into the woman’s chest before running.
Cooper was pronounced dead at the scene.
Woods was arrested about two weeks later, jail records show.
Wade was also arrested for his alleged role in the shooting and remains behind bars on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. He is set to appear in court Monday morning.
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