A DeKalb County judge Monday sentenced a man to two consecutive life terms plus five additional years for the murder of his pregnant girlfriend.
Carlo Simpson, 25, was convicted of the Feb. 18, 2013, murder of 20-year-old Shikhira Dunson, who was more than five months pregnant at the time of the shooting. A DeKalb jury Friday also convicted Simpson of feticide, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during commission of a felony.
At Monday’s sentencing hearing, Dunson’s mother Johnnee Dunson told Superior Court Judge Asha Jackson the impact the killing had on her.
“There’s not one single day that goes by that I don’t have a thought of my daughter,” Johnnee Dunson said. “What was once an amazing beautiful, loving and gentle soul is now and forever more just ashes in the cold, dark ground.”
Johnnee Dunson now cares for the 2-year-old son of Simpson and her daughter. The toddler was 10 months old when his father shot his mother.
“His first birthday, his first steps, his first words were moments not shared with his mother,” Dunson told Jackson. “Their first Christmas together was their last Christmas together. All of this happened because of Carlo Simpson’s cowardly act of rage, aggression, obsession and stupidity.”
When Simpson was arrested, his sister told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the shooting happened during a heated argument.
“I didn’t know that my brother had the gun,” Lawana Simpson said. “He didn’t know it was going to go off.”
Lawana Simpson said her brother was pointing the gun at Dunson, and his girlfriend grabbed the gun and it fired.
“It happened quick,” she said.
About the Author
