MACON, Ga. — Bibb County jail escapee Joey Fournier was found guilty on Thursday in the February 2022 death of his ex-girlfriend Cynthia Berry, according to Cindy Adams with the Macon Judicial Circuit's District Attorney's Office.
He was sentenced by Judge Connie Williford to life in prison with the option of parole.
A Bibb County jury made their decision after deliberating for roughly 1.5 hours, Adams said. When they came back, they found Fournier guilty on every charge against him: malice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault.
On the stand on Wednesday, Fournier told jurors Berry invited him over after work. They were going to have something to eat and watch a movie. Fournier says he took a shower, and when he got out 30 minutes later, Berry was drunk. That's when he says Berry threatened to bully his teenage daughter until she killed herself.
Fournier says he "saw red" and doesn't remember anything else about that night until after a friend picked him up.
Prosecutors were blunt with Fournier as they asked if he strangled Berry.
"I was the only one at the house, so I probably did," he said. "I don't recall."
Fournier said he also couldn't remember if he called anyone as a friend drove him to his hunting land 45 minutes from Macon. Prosecutor Thomas Williams then asked about a voicemail he says Fournier left.
It played in evidence Tuesday: "I didn't do nothing f---ing that nothing wasn't deserved."
He said he doesn't recall what he meant by the message.
"I know something happened. I can't bring her back. I would if I could," Fournier said in response.
The District Attorney's Office asked for life in prison without parole. But, after considering Fournier's lack of criminal history, Willford left open the option of parole after 30 years.
Fournier would be in his 80s when he would have the possibility of early release.
Fournier escaped from the Bibb County jail back in October 2023 along with three others, Johnifer Barnwell, Marc Anderson and Chavis Stokes. He was the last inmate to be captured after hiding out at a homeless encampment in Stockbridge, the sheriff's office said.
Records say Berry and Fournier had a history of domestic violence. Just five months before Berry was killed, a Bibb County judge granted Berry a 12-month protective order against Fournier.
Her petition that she filed with the court claimed that he assaulted her at least three times over their eight-year relationship.
She wrote the worst happened on Aug. 24, 2021 when she moved out of their home. She claimed Fournier tried to take her cell phone, pushed her to the ground, put her in a chokehold, picked her up from the ground and then took her phone.
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