MACON, Ga. — A 20-year-old woman has been sentenced to 50 years after shooting a man in his Macon home back in January 2020 during a botched armed robbery, according to a press release from the Bibb County District Attorney's Office.
But according to the district attorney's press release, the woman and her victim had a past.
Johniya Chappell was sentenced in the Jan. 30, 2020, shooting death of Johntaves Coleman. She plead guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault on Monday. But they say that Coleman let Chappell stay with him when she was in a time of need.
According to the DA's office's press release, Coleman was at home with three friends watching basketball when, at around 7:30 p.m., there was a knock at his door.
When Coleman answered, they say his friends then heard a single gunshot.
They say Coleman would then run into the house where he collapsed. He would die from a single gunshot to the chest.
None of his friends saw the shooter.
According to the district attorney's office, a witness was able to identify a vehicle that was in the area around the time when the shooting took place.
They say surveillance footage from a nearby store caught the same vehicle on camera. It also captured four people getting in and getting out of the vehicle around when the shooting happened.
Only three days later, Chappell -- who was 17 years old at the time -- came to authorities and confessed her involvement in the shooting, the DA's office said, and she identified the other people involved in the shooting.
According to Chappell, it was a botched armed robbery that she and her other co-defendants had planned. But when Coleman answered the door, she said she got scared and shot him, according to the district attorney's office, and she immediately fled the scene.
But according to the press release, Coleman and Chappell had a history.
Coleman was "acquainted" with Chappell, and he had let her stay in his home when she was in a time of need. But while she was living with him, Coleman would discover that Chappell was stealing from him, the district attorney's office said.
Coleman asked her to leave his home, but he continued to help her out with school supplies and money, they said in the press release.
“This is a tragic case all around,” District Attorney Anita Howard said. “This teenager chose crime and violence and targeted someone who was working hard to help her.”
Chappell was sentenced to 50 years with the first 25 years in prison, the DA's office said.
The DA's office did not name their codefendants, but they said that their trials will be set at a later date.
In previous 13WMAZ coverage, Terrance Ates, Shawn Robinson and Xytwuan Calloway were also arrested in connection to Coleman's shooting.
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