After Tasharina Fluker, an Emory Healthcare employee, broke up with Michael Thornton, he didn't want to leave her alone. Prosecutors said he called her two dozen times one night before showing up at her house outside Lithonia with a gun on March 22, 2017.
A relative soon discovered the bodies of Fluker, 41, and her daughter Jazania Myles, 25. Myles’ 9-month-old daughter was also at the home on Parkway Trail, found crying on the couch, but was unharmed.
While police examined the scene, Thornton showed up and was taken into custody. He told officers the women had “jumped” him and the gun “just went off.” But the evidence didn’t support that claim, and this Wednesday he decided to plead guilty to multiple counts of murder, the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office said.
Fluker had been out the night before her murder celebrating her approaching 42nd birthday.
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Sister Monique Fluker said in the days after the deaths that her sister was done with Thornton.
“He knew he had to leave,” Monique told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in March 2017. “She (told me) he’s a good guy, but he’s not right for her.”
The thought of him killing Tasharina shocked Monique. She said Tasharina, who worked in patient accounts at Emory, was good to Thornton, helped him get by as he struggled to find steady work, and she even thought of letting him stay at her home while he found a place to go after the break up.
Tasharina looked out for everyone, the sister said.
She called to check on her mother constantly. She called Monique to make sure she was taking care of herself. Tasharina doted on the kids and her five grandkids, including that crying little girl on the couch, Treajure.
The family was crushed by the murders.
Superior Court Judge Gail Flake sentenced Thornton to two consecutive life terms in prison.
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