A former University of West Georgia instructor pleaded guilty to murder Monday for killing an 18-year-old in a parking deck last year, the Carroll County district attorney said.
Richard Sigman, 49, pleaded guilty to malice murder, three counts of aggravated assault and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in the July 2022 fatal shooting of Anna Jones, DA Herb Cranford said. Sigman was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole, plus 55 years.
“While it is the wish of all of the victims and their families that Sigman never be released from prison, they also value the fact this plea avoids the re-traumatization of a jury trial and provides them some closure regarding this senseless crime,” Cranford said in a statement.
The case was scheduled for a November trial.
Sigman, a former business instructor, spent July 29, 2022, drinking in bars until he was forced to leave Leopoldo’s Pizza on the Carrollton square, according to investigators. There, he got into an argument with another man, police previously said. That man said Sigman threatened to shoot him, so he told a security guard, who saw the instructor with a gun and told him to leave the restaurant.
Sigman left, according to witnesses, and walked into the parking deck. That’s where he fired shots at the parked car with Jones inside, according to police.
“Sigman stumbled into the lower level of the courthouse parking deck, drew his firearm and walked up to the parked vehicle occupied by the three female victims, all of whom were college students,” Cranford said. “Sigman approached the passenger side of the vehicle and banged on the window while brandishing his handgun. The victims were naturally terrified and began to back out of the parking space to escape from Sigman. As they reversed out of the parking space, Sigman fired three rounds, striking the front-seat passenger in the head and killing her.”
Sigman initially claimed he fired in self-defense. But security camera footage told a different story, according to prosecutors.
“His actions were legally unjustified, senseless and incomprehensible,” Cranford said.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Sigman was arrested after the shooting and was fired from the university. In August 2022, a grand jury indicted Sigman, who has remained in the Carroll jail since his arrest.
Jones, a lifelong resident of Carroll County, was set to begin her freshman year at the university and hoped to become a nurse. She and Sigman did not know each other, and investigators do not believe she was targeted in the shooting.
Jones was a cheerleader, played soccer, ran track and was selected for the homecoming court at Mount Zion High School, according to her online obituary. Her funeral was held in Villa Rica.
“Every murder case that comes through the District Attorney’s Office is a tragedy, but this case is particularly devastating because it occurred so randomly and inexplicably,” Cranford said. “These college students had done nothing even to draw the attention of this defendant and yet his violent actions took a life and forever changed two other lives. The District Attorney’s Office hopes this resolution provides these victims and their families a measure of justice.”
In September, Jones’ mother filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Sigman, the pizza restaurant and its owner. The suit, which is pending, said Sigman was “angry, drunk, armed and dangerous” and that the restaurant should have prevented him from causing harm.
“Unfortunately, the employees and security at Leopoldo’s Pizza exercised their control over Sigman in a negligent and reckless manner,” the lawsuit states. “Rather than calling the police or otherwise ensure that a drunk, armed, belligerent man did not continue to endanger lives, security forced Sigman out in the public without taking any reasonable precautions and without any notice to anyone.”
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