The last two of the four young men who murdered Bobby Tillman were sentenced Monday to spend the rest of their days in prison, but not before the judge lamented the unnecessary loss of five young lives.
Douglas County Judge William McClain was direct but sad when he told Horace Damon Coleman, 21, and Quantez Devonta Mallory, 20, of their fate as a result of their Jan. 25th conviction by a jury for their part in what he called the “savage, brutal” beating death of Tillman.
“I sentence you to life without parole and may God have mercy on your souls,” the judge said, bemoaning their crimes as “a sad reflection on youth today.”
The callousness of the killing of 18-year-old Tillman more than two years ago, drew shock, outrage and expressions of sympathy from across the country. Now all the cases are closed against four young men who were 18 and 19 years old when they committed murder.
Emanuel Boykin, who pleaded guilty last year to throwing the first punch that started the beat down, is serving life with the possibility of parole after 30 years. Tracen Franklin who was convicted of murder after a jury trial last year is serving life without parole.
The fatal beating came after a celebration thrown by the parents of two teenage sisters who made good grades. The parents shut down the party after it became too large and out of control due to social media postings that attracted an uninvited crowd, including the four who killed Tillman, who was invited.
McClain said couldn’t understand why teenagers would stand by and watch as four young men savagely beat and stomped another young man to death only moments after they were enjoying a party together. McClain said he could not understand how the four attackers would wear rosary beads and crosses — “images of God” — while “beating and stomping someone to death.” Or why so many teenagers ran from the Douglasville house where the party was held when they heard the police were coming instead of staying to give the authorities information.
“Words seem inadequate,” the judge said. “It’s very sad we are all here today.”
The fatal fight began after Boykins tried to break up an altercation between two girls, and one of the girls hit him. In retaliation, Boykins announced, he would “pop” the next boy he saw because he didn’t hit girls. Boykins, then 18, spied Tillman leaning against a car a few yards away, ran up the hill and sucker punched him, knocking him to the pavement.
Witnesses, all of them teenagers, testified that Coleman, Franklin and Mallory then joined Boykins in punching, kicking and stomping Tillman, who died after his heart lacerated.
“We can ask these boys a million times ‘why did you do it?’” said Monique Rivard, Tillman’s mother.
She said it was unlikely that was the first time the four had acted out.
“We need to look back,” Rivard said. “I’m sure these boys showed signs (of violence) long before. This generation is spiraling down.”
Criminal justice experts have noted that the impulsiveness of young men, responding to perceived slights, is many times at the root of violence.
For example, a 22-year-old Clark Atlanta University student was charged over the weekend with shooting and wounding a Morehouse College student following a disagreement over a pick-up basketball game. And Jonathan Bunn, 18, was sentenced last summer to life without parole for shooting and killing a Clayton County deputy who had pulled him over to serve an armed robbery warrant.
“I see a lot of young people becoming more desensitized to the consequences of their conduct,” said Douglas County District Attorney David McDade.
Tierra Coleman, Horace Coleman’s sister-in-law, noted the events of that night were tragic for five families.
“My heart is so broken for Bobby Tillman’s mother,” Tierra Coleman said. “I can’t fathom what she has gone through for two years. As a mother I feel her pain…. It’s not fair for Bobby’s mom to never see her son again. Our whole family is very, very disturbed by this whole situation.
“But there’s a life that’s been taken away from us too,” Tierra Coleman said about her husband’s younger brother. “He had his entire life in front of him. He has goals and he has dream and he wants to be successful. But he’s not going anywhere. He’s going to sit behind bars for the rest of his life. My family’s been through hell. It’s been a nightmare. I have a lot of family friends who don’t even talk to me any more.”
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