A man convicted of shooting a woman to death at a DeKalb County park nearly three years ago was sentenced to life in prison Thursday.
Malik Rashad Nunnally, 28, was found guilty on charges of murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and weapon offenses in the New Year’s Eve 2018 death of 22-year-old Maya Mitchell at Glen Emerald Park, DeKalb District Attorney Sherry Boston said in a news release Friday.
According to Boston, Mitchell’s body was discovered on a sidewalk in the park by a jogger on Dec. 31, 2018. Authorities who responded to the scene said she had been shot once in the side of the head and was there for at least five hours before her body was found, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.
The investigation revealed that Mitchell left the apartment she shared with her boyfriend around 2 a.m. to meet Nunnally to buy a small amount of marijuana, Boston said. After she did not return home, she was reported missing. Boston confirmed Nunnally and Mitchell knew each other.
Detectives identified Nunnally as a suspect in early 2019 and he was booked into the DeKalb County Jail, online records show.
Nunnally denied ever meeting Mitchell, but text messages between the two revealed their plan to meet, Boston said. Cell tower records also placed Nunnally’s phone in the area of the crime scene that day, Boston said.
Nunnally was sentenced to life in prison plus five years.
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