A DeKalb County man who claimed his fiancé, an elementary school teacher, killed herself was found guilty Monday of her murder.
Antione Hood, 31, was convicted of felony murder and aggravated assault in the shooting death of Rockdale County elementary school teacher Candace McGriff, 28, according to the DeKalb District Attorney's Office. The jury acquitted him of a malice murder charge, an accusation that requires prior intent to kill. Felony murder doesn't require intent to kill.
Hood faces life in prison, but a sentencing date hasn't been scheduled. The DA's office declined to comment on the conviction until after the sentencing.
Hood called police on Feb. 17, 2015, to the victim's home on Lithonia's home on Concepts 21 Drive and directed them to her body.
McGriff was a teacher at C.J. Hicks Elementary School in Conyers.
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Hood reportedly was calm, directing the officers to the rear bedroom, where McGriff was lying face up on the floor, a gunshot wound to the chest. A firearm lay on the bed.
Hood told officers McGriff had said she was going to shoot herself over his plans to leave her.
“A Medical Examiner’s forensic investigator testified during the trial, that evidence showed that McGriff did not fire the fatal gunshot,” District Attorney’s Office spokesman Marcus K. Garner said in a news release.
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