A Marietta man who shot and killed his father after he was given an ultimatum to get a job or move out of his parents’ home was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Daniel Walden Attaway, 27, pleaded guilty but mentally ill Wednesday to one count of malice murder for killing his 59-year-old father Douglas Attaway.
Superior Court Judge Kim Childs sentenced Daniel Attaway to 25 years behind bars followed by 25 years of probation, Cobb County District Attorney Flynn Broady Jr. announced in a news release Friday evening.
The sentence and admission of guilt were part of a negotiated plea deal that brings an end to a saga that’s lasted more than three years. Attaway was arrested just days after his father’s death. He was indicted for two different murder charges, aggravated assault with intent to commit murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
As part of the negotiated agreement, Attaway’s sentence includes required mental health supervision for the entirety of his 50-year sentence, a spokesperson from the district attorney’s office said.
Attaway shot his father “execution style” in the basement of the family’s Marietta home in September 2018, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.
Authorities said he became angry when his father ordered him to find employment. Investigators said Attaway used a 9mm from the family’s weapons collection.
The younger Attaway initially blamed his father’s death on an unknown assailant. He called 911 and told dispatchers he found him dead when he came home.
“I don’t know who did this, ma’am,” Attaway said, according to 911 call records. “Somebody has entered my house when I was away and they shot my father. He is dead.”
Attaway later confessed to his mother and sister that he was the gunman, prosecutors said.
Investigators found the gun he used and discovered other evidence to tie him to the killing. They also had his confession to family members.
Attaway has remained in lockup at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center for the past 31/2 years, booking records show.
During the leadup to trial, he was declared mentally incompetent, then later deemed fit to stand trial by state psychologists, the AJC reported in April 2021.
“This is such a tragic case,” Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Paul Camarillo said in the news release. “This family was irrevocably changed by Attaway’s actions. Hopefully, the healing process can now begin for this family.”
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