Two men received multiple consecutive life sentences in recent weeks for beating their former Lithia Springs roommate with bolt cutters, wrapping the man in duct tape and leaving him to die on his bathroom floor last year.
Daniel Gillstrap, 43, and Marshall Fleming, 24, were each convicted of malice murder, felony murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault and theft by taking, the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday. The men killed 53-year-old Stiles Dean Stilley, who allowed them to live in his house for a short time in September 2022.
A third defendant in the case, 23-year-old Elizabeth Allen, served as the getaway driver and tried to help cover up the incident, the DA’s office said. She pleaded guilty to her involvement in Stilley’s killing and agreed to testify against Gillstrap. Allen was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Credit: Douglas County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Douglas County Sheriff's Office
According to the DA’s office, Stilley met Fleming and Gillstrap in early September 2022 and agreed to let them stay at his home if they helped with repairs. Gillstrap “only stayed briefly,” the DA’s office said, but Fleming moved in for several days. He moved out on Sept. 9, 2022, after the home’s electricity was shut off for lack of payment.
The two defendants “became desperate for money,” the DA’s office said, and a week after Fleming moved out, he and Gillstrap devised a plan to go back to Stilley’s house and steal his car. Allen, who was described by the DA’s office as Fleming’s recent love interest, drove the men to the house in Lithia Springs, but no one was home.
They went inside using a key they’d been given while staying with Stilley, the DA’s office said. Fleming called Stilley and lured him back to the house, although prosecutors did not say how he got Stilley to return. When Stilley got home, Fleming and Gillstrap attacked him.
Fleming hit Stilley in the head with a heavy pair of bolt cutters he’d brought with him, the DA’s office said. Both men began beating Stilley, then wrapped him in duct tape. They also completely wrapped Stilley’s head with duct tape, leaving only his nostrils exposed. They then carried him to the bathroom and left him on the floor. Stilley’s body was discovered there by his family two days later.
On Sept. 24, 2022, Allen was arrested and charged with being a party to a crime. Over the next few days, Fleming and then Gillstrap were taken into custody. About two weeks later, while all three remained in jail, the Douglas sheriff’s office charged each of them with murder. Allen’s murder charge was later dropped.
“This case was a brutal and vicious attack on Stiles Stilley’s life. The defendants showed no remorse and continued to victimize Mr. Stilley and his family even after his death,” Douglas DA Dalia Racine said in a statement.
Racine did not detail how Fleming and Gillstrap “continued to victimize” Stilley’s family.
The two men’s sentences slightly differ. On Sept. 1, Fleming was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and a consecutive sentence of life with the possibility of parole. Gillstrap, who has served several other prison stints for crimes like burglary, possession of methamphetamine and gun charges, received two consecutive sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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