Five people allegedly associated with the Ghostface Gangsters will spend decades in prison after they each pleaded guilty to roles in a Coweta County home invasion that left a 14-year-old girl dead.
On Feb. 11, 2020, four of the defendants stormed a home on Bethlehem Church Road and, after “tormenting” one woman at gunpoint, one of them fatally shot Haley Adams, Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney Herb Cranford said in a statement Tuesday.
The fifth defendant, 35-year-old William Autry Tyree of Newnan, was a suspected high-ranking leader in the Ghostface Gangsters hierarchy and ordered the attack, Cranford said.
Justin Cayne Ramsey, 24, of Locust Grove, was the triggerman who killed Adams, according to the DA. He pleaded guilty to 15 charges, including murder and first-degree home invasion. Ramsey was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole, though Cranford said he will be required to serve at least 30 years in prison before his parole eligibility is considered.
The other defendants were Kyle Ray Conley, 40, of Augusta; Aubrie Leigh Brown, 29, of Austell; and Spencer Todd Wix, 31, of Villa Rica. Ramsey, Conley and Brown are suspected members of the gang, but Wix, who is Brown’s brother, was not a member at the time.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
According to Cranford, Tyree directed the other four defendants to commit the crime. He had a personal vendetta against the man who lived there and told the other four to scare him, “rough him up” and steal his guns.
Around 9 p.m., Ramsey, Conley, Wix and Brown forced their way inside. Ramsey was armed with an AK-47-style rifle while Conley and Wix carried handguns. Brown was carrying bags to transport the guns they expected to steal.
The group held Adams’ mother at gunpoint but learned that the man they were targeting was not in the house. Unable to find their target, they decided to abandon the plan and left.
Adams, who had been hiding in her room during the encounter, grabbed a BB pistol and chased after the group. While she was on the front porch, Ramsey fired his rifle at her, hitting her once in the back. The teenager died later that night at the hospital, Cranford said.
Conley and Wix pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including voluntary manslaughter and first-degree home invasion, in April 2022, according to the DA. They were both sentenced to 25 years in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release.
Tyree pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, false imprisonment, gang charges and other counts in August. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison without parole, followed by 25 years of supervised release.
Brown pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, first-degree home invasion and gang charges, among other counts, in late November alongside Ramsey, Cranford said. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison followed by 20 years of supervised release.
Of the five defendants, Ramsey and Tyree are the only ones who will spend at least 30 years in prison before they become eligible for parole.
“While our criminal justice system obviously cannot compensate for the loss of Haley Adams, the District Attorney’s Office is satisfied that justice was done in this case and that our community is safer as a result of these sentences,” Cranford said.
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