After a seven-day trial, a Baldwin County jury convicted Reco Stephens on multiple murder charges.
MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — A man was convicted by a Baldwin County jury for allegedly killing a woman he took to the hospital back in 2022, according to a press release from Assistant District Attorney Sydney Segers of the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit.
Reco Antwan Stephens, 31, was charged with multiple counts of murder in the death of Shani King. On Tuesday, a Baldwin County jury found Stephen guilty on all counts after a seven-day trial.
Stephens is set to spend the rest of his life behind bars after being sentenced to life without the possibility of parole on the murder charges.
They say the case began when Stephens arrived at Atrium Health Navicent “covered with blood” with King and her 17-month-old child, the release said.
During two interviews with investigators, Segers says Stephens “repeatedly lied and tried to blame King for her own death, claiming it was both accidental and then later suggesting it was intentional.”
Ultimately, Segers says Stephens admitted to a detective that he was holding the gun when he said it “accidentally” discharged.
The jury also heard about previous examples of Stephen’s alleged physical and verbal abuse towards King. They also told the jury about “several allegations that he had previously pulled a gun on her during arguments,” the release said.
According to the DA’s office, testimony from both the medical examiner and a GBI crime scene specialist showed that the gun’s muzzle would have been pointed straight at King based on the bullet’s trajectory.
They say it would have had to be directly pointed at King to create the path through King’s body and through the interior walls of the home as they saw at the scene, the press release said.
The DA’s Office also pointed to inconsistencies in Stephen’s description of the murder weapon.
They say that Stephens “repeatedly stated” that the gun found at the crime scene was the gun that shot King. However, 35 days after the shooting, a passerby found a gun lying behind the home “directly” next to King’s home.
When evaluated by firearm examiners, the GBI expert testified that the second gun was, in fact, the firearm that shot King.
The District Attorney’s office thanked the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office, including Detective Robert Butch and Major Brad King along with the GBI’s help in the investigation and their testimony in the trial.
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