A mistrial was declared Friday for Austin Tybre Ford, the second in the case of 18-year-old Tori Lang whose remains were found in July 2021 in a Gwinnett County park.
Ford, 20, was previously convicted of theft by taking a firearm, theft by taking a motor vehicle and concealing the death of another in May of this year, but the jury was unable to agree on the more serious charges of murder, aggravated assault and voluntary manslaughter during the first trial that began in late-April. Now District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson is announcing a second mistrial on the same “serious charges.”
“Most of the jurors were in favor of a guilty verdict. There were a few who wanted not guilty,” Austin-Gatson said in a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “My heart goes out to the Lang family for enduring a mistrial for a second time.”
Lang had often visited Yellow River Park near Stone Mountain with her family. They reported her missing July 28, 2021.
At about 6:30 a.m. that day, police responded after park visitors discovered the teen’s body and dialed 911, Gwinnett police said. Lang, a 2020 Stephenson High School graduate, was found in a grassy field with an apparent gunshot wound. To help identify her, Gwinnett police posted photos of her tattoos on social media. Lang’s devastated family confirmed it was her.
Days later, Lang’s burned Nissan Versa was discovered at DeKalb County’s Hidden Acres Nature Preserve, less than five miles from where she was killed, police said. A park ranger found the compact sedan, which authorities said had been set on fire and then rolled or pushed into the woods.
“It’s just hard every day thinking of this moment,” the teen’s aunt, Tamara Lang, said after her death. “What would you do if this was your child? If you know something, if you saw something, we just implore somebody to say something.”
Ford was identified as a suspect and charged in April 2022. At the time, he was in the Clayton County Jail on unrelated charges, and was later booked into the Gwinnett jail.
Ford was indicted in September 2022 on charges of murder, aggravated assault, voluntary manslaughter, two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony, two counts of theft by taking, and tampering with evidence.
Austin-Gatson said she will be speaking with Lang’s family and other members of the Gwinnett district attorney’s office “before a decision is made on the next move.”
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