A Cobb County man facing the death penalty in the death of his 14-year-old stepdaughter pleaded not guilty this week to the alleged crimes.
Kim Isaza, the spokeswoman for the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office, said Dafareya Jamal Hunter waived his June 4 formal arraignment and entered a not guilty plea to charges of murder, rape, arson, cruelty to children, aggravated child molestation and aggravated assault in connection to the grim discovery police made nearly three years ago.
The teen's body was found inside the torched home on Shadowridge Drive in Marietta July 23, 2016. Cobb County police said Hunter allegedly raped his stepdaughter, stabbed her and set their home on fire to hide the evidence.
He escaped the fire and was arrested a month later in Broward County, Florida. His stepson also escaped the blaze through a window.
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A Cobb grand jury in April indicted Hunter on four counts of felony murder and one count each of malice murder, rape, aggravated assault, aggravated child molestation, arson in the first degree, cruelty to children in the first degree and criminal attempt to commit a felony.
Vic Reynolds, who was serving as Cobb County district attorney at the time, said he would seek the death penalty against Hunter in the case. Since that announcement, Reynolds left Cobb after he was appointed by Gov. Kemp to serve as director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. However, Isaza said prosecutors filed a notice to continue pursuing that form of punishment for Hunter.
Hunter remains held at the Cobb County Jail without bond. No additional proceedings have been scheduled at this time. The case is assigned to Cobb Superior Court Judge S. Lark Ingram.
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